CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Vice Governor Lilia Pineda has called on the help of village captains in Pampanga to assist in the collection of real property taxes (RPTs) in their respective villages.
Pineda made this plea during the General Revision of Real Properties held at Kingsborough International Convention Center in this capital city on Thursday, September 19.
“Village officials should work for the collection of real property tax in every barangay. This would in turn increase the province’s income and also the barangays,” Pineda said.
Pineda said that village officials can extend assistance to their respective municipal assessors and treasurers in the collection of RPTs.
Provincial assessor Romeo Dizon said that the RPT income is shared by the provincial, municipal/city and village local government units. Some 40 percent share is given to the village, 25 percent goes to the municipal/city and the other 35 percent is the share of the province.
The acting governor said the provincial board is also moving to update the outdated basis for collection and conduct a general revision of property assessments and classification in the province that would be reflected in the passage of an ordinance.
Provincial Administrator Charlie Chua said that Pineda wants to immediately finish the tax ordinance and be signed in October this year and eventually be implemented next year.
The provincial administrator said the tax code is currently outdated.
“We can collect even more RPT if the tax ordinance is updated and the revisions are implemented. More RPT collection would mean more basic services and more development programs for the people of Pampanga,” Chua said.
Chua said that it is high time to update the local tax code as it is already 23 years old and streamline the Schedule of Market Values (SMVs) in various municipalities.
“Life blood ng gobyerno ‘yang taxes so that we can produce quality programs and projects that would benefit our people” Chua said.
Local government units are required by law to revise their SMVs and conduct general revision of property assessments and classifications once every three years. However, data from the Department of Finance show that Pampanga’s property taxes are still based on a 1994 SMV.
To make things work, Chua added that Governor Dennis Pineda is planning to complement the tax amnesty being initiated by the national government so they could encourage Kapampangans to pay their appropriate RPTs.
“This is to provide relief to delinquent tax payers and at the same time, raise additional revenue for government projects and services,” he said.