Friday, January 18, 2008 New land values okayed By Albert B. Lacanlale
THE San Fernando City Council approved last Wednesday the proposed ordinance revising the fair market values of real properties within the territories in the city.
In a regular session, the council members unanimously gave their nod to the ordinance sponsored by Councilor Alex Patio, chairman of the City Council committee on ways and means.
The new ordinance only needs the signature of the vice mayor and the city mayor and publication in a newspaper before it can be imposed.
Once imposed, the FMV increase would also pull up the existing real property tax (RPT) base of properties in the city.
The FMV increase is coherent with the Local Government Code's provision that allows local government units to undertake general revision on real property assessments once every three years.
However, adjustment to the FMVs has been delayed for so long that the City Government thought of revising the RPT tax base.
Valuations for agricultural lands were increased by as much as 70 percent and for residential lands by about 30 percent. FMVs of commercial and industrial lands will not change.
Several amendments, culled during the public hearing set for the proposed ordinance, were introduced to the draft legislation. For instance, Section 7 of the ordinance now provides for a 15-percent discount for taxpayers who would settle their RPT dues in advance and 10 percent discount for prompt payments.
