Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez appealed to the Sangguniang Panlungsod to make sure that taxes are efficiently collected from everyone before considering any hike in Bacolod City’s tax rates.
If the city government does not collect from everyone, only the diligent tax payers will bear the brunt of new tax rates, Benitez said in his speech at the 85th Bacolod City Charter Day program at L’Fisher Hotel on Sunday, June 18, where the city’s top taxpayers were honored.
The Bacolod City treasurer has submitted a proposed tax adjustment, which is mandated by law, to the SP.
“We should first make sure that the collection of taxes is actually inclusive and we collect from everyone…we would like to plug the gaps in our system so that everybody pays their dues,” Benitez said.
Before any revision in the tax rates, Benitez said the city could should make sure that all taxpayers are assessed properly.
Benitez also said an agreement was reached that Iloilo and Bacolod would more or less have the same tax structure.
Benitez is set to meet with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday and will then join the 32 Visayan bloc representatives on a six-day Mediterranean cruise, with stops in Croatia and Italy.
Among the representatives from Negros Occidental on the cruise are Stephen Paduano (Abang Lingkod), Mercedes Alvarez (6th District), Francisco Benitez (3rd District) and Greg Gasataya (Bacolod), the mayor said.*