Thursday, February 19, 2004
Councilors okay P194.5M supplemental fund
By Gingging A. Campaña
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THE Cebu City Council yesterday approved the City’s first supplemental budget, which was reduced by P6.58 million after a series of budget hearings with the financial cluster management and department heads.
Instead of the original P201.10 million, City Hall will only be spending some P194.53 million.
Instead of buying 77 police motorcycles, the City will be buying 40 units, reducing the P6.77-million budget for the purpose to P3.77 million.
The P4.85-million budget for sports development projects was also reduced to P2.06 million.
A total of P5.23 million was also taken from some engineering and public works projects, but this was added to the appropriation of some drainage projects in various barangays.
The council also attached a provision asking the executive department to get the legislative body’s approval, before using the P120-million credit line with the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) as a source of fund.
The supplemental budget is supported by the P120-million domestic borrowing and the P81-million retained surplus from 2003.
The P120 million is the unused balance of the original P400-million standby credit facility with PVB.
The rest of the loan was availed last year to pay for City Hall’s balance to Toyo Construction, the contractor of the South Reclamation Project.
Councilor Gabriel Leyson, who heads the committee on infrastructure and public works, asked who authorized the P5.23-million reduction from the infrastructure.
Councilor Jocelyn Pes-quera, who sponsored the ordinance, explained that Budget Officer Nelfa Briones erred in including projects that have been appropriated in the 2003 third supplemental budget.
“If we include the whole amount, this is already a duplication to the one passed last year. So most of the appropriations listed for the new budget is just the additional amount for the ongoing projects,” she said.
As to the increased appropriations, Pesquera said this is needed to meet the requirement of the new procurement law creating the new bids and awards body.
Appropriations for each infrastructure project should be given at least 30 percent more than the programs of works and estimates, so this need not go back to the council for another approval in case the budget is lacking, she said.
Some P500,000 was added to the appropriations for drugs and medicines, as well as for the dental supplies and materials for the City Health Department totaling to P1 million each. Some P499,000 miscellaneous expenses under the mayor’s office was also scrapped from the budget.
The P194,529,518 budget is broken down as: P170,069,565 for the general fund; P2,677,679 for the City Traffic Operations Management; P652,274 for hospital services; P21.1 million for the city market operations and P30,000 for the City abattoir.
(February 19, 2004 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
