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Friday, January 24, 2003
19 taxpayers rap hike
By Jasmin G. Sumaoy & Gingging A. Campaña
Of Sun.Star Cebu
NINETEEN taxpayers have so far paid their real property taxes under protest and filed an appeal before the Registry of Deeds’ Local Board of Assessment Appeals.
Four business groups also recommended to Mayor Tomas Osmeña some mechanisms to cushion the effect of the new fair market values (FMV) of real properties.
Elena Abelgas, an owner of a one-hectare cornland in Toong, Pardo, said the new market value of her property is “excessive, erroneous and unjust.” She was taxed P2,207.
Since 2000, there has been no improvement made on her property that would warrant a 375 percent increase in its market value, she said in her appeal.
Officials of the Local Board of Assessment Appeals said more have expressed intention to file an appeal only that they could not pay yet. Receipt of payment for the whole year is a requirement for protest.
Among others, the four business groups suggested to Osmeña that the assessment levels be reduced to 15 percent for residential buildings; eight percent for commercial lots; and 25 percent for commercial buildings.
They also asked that the basic tax be reduced from two percent to 1.5 percent.
“We are requesting the City of Cebu to maintain always a stable and business/investor-friendly environment,” their letter to the mayor read.
Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Jose Ng, Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce president Filomeno Lim, Cebu Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Association president Renato Lim and Cebu Realtors Board president Purifica-cion Cabahug signed it.
The letter was dated Jan. 20 but it was received by the mayor’s office only yesterday.
Computations
They said they went over the new schedule of FMV and found out that increases range from a low of 14 percent to as high as 127 percent. They submitted their computations to Osmeña.
But the mayor down-played talks that the revised assessment on real property taxes has gone up to as much as 127 percent.
“That’s exaggeration. Perhaps they’ve been talking about the appraisal of the properties,” he told reporters in his press conference yesterday.
The City is only charging an average of 20 percent tax assessment on real properties depending on their fair market value and zonal value.
However, Osmeña said he shares the blame with Acting City Treasurer Ofelia Oliva for “miserably failing” to tell him where the people want their taxes to go.
Osmeña said he has scolded Oliva for not submitting to him the results of a survey made by the treasury office during the annual renewal of business permits last year.
“She’s so aggressive that she has become inconsiderate of what she is supposed to do. If she doesn’t seem to care, then she has to go. This has put me in an embarrassing situation,” he said.
Last year, Osmeña ordered Oliva to attach a survey sheet to each application form for business permits that asked: “How do you want the City Government to use the money that you pay for business permit?” (The applicant was asked to specify by choosing, for instance, road asphalting, purchase of sodium lamps or more police cars.)
Intervene
In a separate interview, Oliva said she already submitted a summary of the results to City Administrator Nigel Paul Villarete.
“I’ve done my job,” she told reporters.
Villarete said they are still revising the format of the summary.
Vice Mayor Michael Rama yesterday said the City Council “definitely, will not be insensitive to the sentiment of the businessmen.”
He said he is ready to bring up the possibility of reviewing the approved ordinance for the general revision of the schedule of the FMV with the councilors.
However before they will intervene, Rama said there must be an advice from the mayor, where the proposal for the general revision came from.
Judging by the number of those who filed protests before the Local Board of Assessment Appeals, it appears that not only businessmen but also ordinary taxpayers are disgruntled with the new assessments of real properties.
Thomas Liu, one of the 19 who so far paid taxes “under protest” and filed an appeal, said business was not good last year because his three-door apartment was “one-third vacant in June to October and two-thirds vacant in November.”
Since it’s a 20-year-old building, his property should be depreciated by 50 percent or more and not just 31 percent.
Liu told Sun.Star this was the first time he paid under protest. He said he finds “too much” the 38.14 percent increase imposed on his lot and the 36.17 percent increase for his building along Pelaez St.
He was only taxed P3,773 by City Hall for his lot last year and P8,074 for his building.
For 2003, his tax dues increased to P5,212 for his lot and P10,994 for his building.
Manuela Alemoren also found the new tax dues imposed by the City just “too big.”
The market value of Alemoren’s two-hectare cornland in the mountain barangay of Adlawon was placed at P1.037 million and tax dues at P2,646, which is 50 percent more than what she paid last year.
Section 226 of the Local Government Code provides that “any (property) owner who is not satisfied with the action of the city assessor in the assessment of his property may, within 60 days from the date of receipt of the notice of assessment, appeal to the board.”
The Board of Assessment of Appeals is composed of the registrar of deeds as chairman, and city prosecutor and city engineer as members. The board shall decide the appeal within 120 days.
(January 24, 2003 issue)
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