by Rio N. Araja
[ manilastandardtoday.com ] January 25, 2012
QUEZON City Administrator Victor Endriga on Tuesday said the city was on track to build more homes for the poor using proceeds from a tax on idle lands and from the city government’s socialized housing tax.
Both taxes will help fund anti-poverty measures, particularly the shelter program of Mayor Herbert Bautista, Endriga said.
He said the city should have started collecting the tax on idle lands in 1994, just like in any other cities in Metro Manila, such as Pasig and Marikina.
Quezon City should have generated more funds to put up more homes for the informal settlers, he noted.
He said the idle land tax is not a new tax. The revenue measure, which was passed 16 years ago, imposes a three-percent rate on the assessed value of all properties located along existing national roads and one percent on all idle lands in other areas, which shall be in addition to the basic real property tax.
The city government was able to generate at least P75,959,144.76 from the idle land tax and P1,549,052.61 from socialized housing tax in 2011, he said.
Idle lands are properties comprising over 1,000 square meters in area with one-half of which remaining unutilized or unimproved by the owner, he said.
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