[ Manila Bulletin Online ] February 8, 2009
By MARS W. MOSQUEDA JR.
CEBU CITY — The Cebu City government has collected R365 million in real estate taxes and business permit fees for the first month of this year, an increase of around 9.5 percent in revenue compared to the same period last year.
City Treasurer Renee Empaces said more real property owners have paid for their taxes in January, stressing that the government’s strict rules on untaxed properties have played a major role in the increase of revenue.
Empaces said the city government has a rule that calls for the immediate auction of real properties to the public as soon as their owners fail to pay their taxes.
Empaces also said more owners of business establishments renewed their licenses and paid their respective taxes this year as compared to the same period last year, although he stressed that there were business owners who opted for the quarterly payment instead of the one time, annual payment.
Assistant City Treasurer for Administration Emma Villarete said the increased revenue can also be attributed to the fact that the City Treasurer’s Office has put up stalls in strategic locations around the city for the convenience of the tax payers.
The move, Villarete said, was positively embraced by taxpayers who trooped to the various one-stop tax shops of the city government even during weekends and holidays.
The deadline for real estate tax payments was supposed to be on the last working day of 1998 but the City Treasurer’s Office had decided to open its doors between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day to accept tax payments so they could maximize tax collection even during the holidays.
Cebu City Mayor on leave Tomas Osmeña earlier announced that the Cebu City government, under his administration, had a surplus of R250 million in 2008.
Osmeña said the city’s efficient revenue collection has resulted in a surplus of a quarter million pesos.
Osmeña said he will use the surplus funds to fulfill his promise to senior citizens last year. The mayor said each senior citizen, who is a registered voter in the city, will receive R1,000 birthday gift and another R1,000 during Christmas.
The Cebu City Council approved the R2.631-billion Cebu City budget for 2009 after adjusting the allocation for the payment of the city’s foreign loans.
_________________________________________________________________________
