The Bacolod City government has collected P1.376 billion or 94 percent of its 2023 local revenue target as of October, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said on Monday, Nov. 20.
The local revenue target for 2023 is P1.465 billion, and he hopes to raise that to P1.7 billion in 2024, Benitez said during his weekly press conference at the Mayor’s Office.
“We mean business,” the mayor said of the city’s local tax collection campaign and drive against businesses operating without permits.
The Bacolod City Business Permits and Licensing Office head Stela Rose Rayos said they have recommended the closure of 146 establishments operating without business permits, and so far nine have been closed.
The city is growing and new businesses are sprouting across Bacolod, Benitez said.
He said “part of this growth is we should be able to capture the revenues for us to continue the services delivered by the city government. I appeal to the business establishments to pay proper taxes since the benefits will also return to them”.
Benitez said Bacolod’s National Tax Allotment share dropped by P300 million in 2023 but was cushioned by the increase in the collection of local revenues.
“With proper collection we can really generate revenues,” he said.
The local revenue collected this year from real property tax was P350.169 million, business tax – P493.677 million, other taxes – P84.162 million, regulatory fees – P117.342 million, service charges – P203.505 million, and other receipts P127.781 million, data from the City Treasurer’s Office showed on Monday.
The collection from real property and business taxes has hit 63.67 percent and 82.28 percent, respectively, of the 2023 target. The total collection for the other local revenue sources hit between 138 percent and 192 percent, the City Treasurer’s Office also reported.
Every three years local government units are mandated to revise the local tax code the mayor said.
However, “before we touch our local tax rates let us make sure that we collect properly”, he said.
“We will sit down with the city council to find a win-win solution to the local tax revenue”, Benitez said.*