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Tuesday, September 23, 2003
P.75 daily charge on gov't lots minimal: Manaois
ASIDE from being the cleanest and greenest highly urbanized city in the entire country, Baguio could also be the most generous city in terms of leasing government lots to businessmen.
Last Monday, City Treasurer Thelma Manaois informed the City Council that the City Government is charging businessmen lot rentals ranging from P.50 to P.75 per square meter per day while other cities like San Fernando in La Union and Dagupan in Pangasinan are charging higher rates.
"In a study conducted by City Hall staff, it was found out that cities like San Fernando, La Union and Dagupan, Pangasinan charge more fees than Baguio City does, even if it is a highly-urbanized city," Manaois said.
She stressed the rates of lot rentals being charged by the city are no longer relevant to the present times. The existing rates were imposed sometime in 1996.
"If other local government units can impose higher fees, there is no reason why Baguio cannot follow suit," Manaois noted.
Manaois revealed that while the city charges minimal rates for rentals, businessmen charge their tenants a thousand times more than what they are paying to the city.
"These lessees make money out of the city's generosity," she added.
To improve the city's rate over government lots, Manaois recommended that the city charge commercial and residential land tenants P.50 to P2 per square-meter daily.
She added the ideal rate on government lots along Magsaysay Ave., Bonifacio Street, Rajah Suliman and Lapu-Lapu, Hilltop, and Kayang Street should be P2 per square meter daily.
However, Manaois claimed that in case of dramatic inflation, the City Government might correspondingly increase the rate of the recommended new rentals based on the rate of inflation as determined by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Meanwhile, the City Council will hold a special session Tuesday to discuss the new rates being proposed by the City Treasurer's Office (CTO).
The Council is also expected to tackle the proposed new rates on lot and building rentals on city-owned properties, transfer fees on the transfer of certain awards, rights or privileges and special permits. HFP
(September 23, 2003 issue)
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