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Sunday, October 23, 2005
Garbage eases Cebu City’s debt burden
CEBU CITY –- Cebu City is making money out of garbage, but isn’t getting the real property taxes it deserves.
Collection of garbage fees reached close to P40 million as of July 31 this year, compared to a target of P9.5 million.
In contrast, the City Treasury Office collected only P13 million in real property tax, or 31.08 percent of the P43-million target for this year.
The treasury has failed to meet about 54 percent of the targeted revenues for the first seven months this year.
City Hall is under pressure to earn because it pegged its budget for next year at P2.56 billion.
Payments and fees for the South Reclamation Project loan will eat up about P775 million of the annual budget.
City Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera, head of the committee on budget and finance, reported that the treasury office only collected P1.05 billion of the P2.29-billion target in revenues as July 2005.
Although the treasury did not hit its target for real property tax, it was able to collect 89.5 percent of the P350-million target for business taxes.
The council approved Pesquera’s report and requested the city treasurer to provide the body with the interest rates of the City’s bank deposits for July 2005.
Trust fund
The City Government is operating on a P2.39-billion annual budget this year.
The finance committee identified sources of funds as: taxation (P950,670,000); Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) (P608,217,098); and general income accounts (P840,286,071).
Meanwhile, Mayor Tomas Osmeña asked the Cebu City Council to allow the local finance committee to transfer some P33 million from the City’s trust fund to the general fund, to partially finance the third supplemental budget this year.
The third supplemental budget, which has yet to get the council’s approval, is still being reviewed by the mayor’s financial advisers.
Local finance committee chairman Nigel Paul Villarete said the City needs resources to finance the supplemental budget.
Since the P33-million trust fund “is not moving,” it is considered an available resource, he told Sun.Star Saturday.
Income
Villarete, however, did not name any major item in the proposed budget. The mayor is still reviewing it.
The council approved Osmeña’s transfer request last Wednesday and agreed further that the “items belonging to the special account shall represent the partial return of the subsidy amount made by the general fund to the said account.”
Next year, the City Government expects to earn P735.5 million from the sale of government lots, P21 million from interest on time deposits, P3 million as its profit share from the North Bus Terminal and P20 million from miscellaneous and other revenues.
A target of P25 million was also set for mayor’s permit fees, P4 million for zoning fees, P30 million increase in garbage fees, P6 million from Civil Registrar’s fees and P3.5 million from building permit fees. (Sun.Star Cebu)
(October 23, 2005 issue)
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