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Thursday, December 09, 2004
Cebu City budget of P2.39B okayed
By Gingging A. Campaña
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
OWING to a good presentation of their plans and programs for next year, a public hospital and two City Hall offices will get priority treatment for their equipment needs.
The local finance committee and the Cebu City Council agreed to prioritize the proposed equipment outlay of the Department of Public Services (DPS), Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) and the City Traffic Operations Management (Citom).
The council yesterday approved the City’s P2.39-billion annual budget for 2005, with some adjustments and amendments to some accounts.
Councilor Jocelyn Pes-quera explained that in the series of budget hearings by the council in the last three weeks, the three offices presented more concrete and specific programs for next year.
DPS, she said, has a full grasp of how to serve constituents better and how to make Cebu City the cleanest city in the country. The department, however, could not cite in its proposal the specific period for a particular project, she said.
Sinulog, tourism
As for Citom, Pesquera was amused, because unlike in the past, the office, which is under the Office of the Mayor, finally submitted its programs and plans for 2005.
This time, it presented very concrete and specific programs and submitted details required by the council.
CCMC, for its part, has continued to improve its plans and services.
For next year, CCMC has specified their target beneficiaries and identified medical services the public can avail themselves of for free.
As planned, the local finance body increased by P5 million its appropriation for financial assistance to the Sinulog Foundation Inc., bringing it to a total of P8 million.
It also added some P3 million for miscellaneous expenses for City-sponsored activities, including tourism-related activities, which now totals P8 million.
The finance committee also added P840,500 more to miscellaneous expenses for the coastline management board.
Less for power
The executive department, however, decided to cut its lump sum appropriation for electricity by P8,840,500 to cover the adjustments.
Instead of the original budget of P80 million, the budget for electricity was placed P71,159,500.
The finance committee identified sources of funds as taxation (P950,670,000), the Internal Revenue Allotment (P608,217,098) and general income accounts (P840,286,071).
In her committee report, which was approved by the council, Pesquera said questions on whether the projected revenues are achievable were raised during the budget hearings.
This, considering that Acting City Treasurer Tessie Camarillo had said the target revenues were increased to reach the debt cap. Camarillo, however, promised that her office will be able to attain its targets for 2004.
For the first time, Pesquera said the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) was able to submit their plans and programs for 2005. DWUP projected a monthly collection of at least P3 million.
Incentive
It was instructed to prepare a map of all the housing projects as well as the poor communities in the city and to submit these to the council.
The treasury office has emphasized in its plans the activities to intensify collection efforts, as well as collection efficiency.
“They had also proposed the opening of permanent posts to motivate employees to work harder, especially now that most of the employees are holding positions in a temporary capacity,” Pesquera said.
The market operations division has projected a revenue of some P35,840,627, which is P11,240,627 more than what had been certified by the local finance committee.
The division said it will begin returning to the general fund the yearly amortization of the market buildings, including that of the new Ramos public market.
(December 9, 2004 issue)
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