The National Tax Allotment (NTA) of the Negros Occidental provincial government for 2023 will be P4,623,981,428.
The Negros Occidental provincial government’s NTA for 2023 will decrease by P782,280,808 or 14.47 percent from this year’s P5,406,262,236, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Thursday, June 23.
The drop in the NTA will be felt in 2023 and 2024 by all local government units because of the low tax collections in 2020 and 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
If the 2023 NTA cuts in the shares of the 31 local government units of Negros Occidental are included the total reduction could reach more than P2 billion, Lacson said, but added that he does not have the exact figure yet.
The provincial government will have to tighten its belt and improve its generation of local revenues, Lacson said.
He said he does not have specifics yet on what provincial government cuts will be made as they are still in the process of preparing the 2023 budget.
The bulk of the cuts are expected to be in the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses, he added.*