BACOLOD City Mayor Evelio Leonardia already submitted the proposed P3-billion annual budget for 2020 to the City Council for its approval.
Councilor Cindy Rojas, chairperson of the City Council committee on finance, said Tuesday, October 22, they already received the proposed budget for 2020 and will discuss it on their regular session next week.
“We will include it on our regular session next week for the first reading. Then, we can have successive committee hearings for all the departments and we are hopeful that we can approve it by November,” Rojas said.
The city councilor added they suggested to Mayor Leonardia to give more budget for the city’s programs for health and education.
This year, Bacolod City has a total of P2.52 billion annual budget. Its 2019 budget is 12 percent higher, or P270 million more than in 2018.
50 percent of the budget comes from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) amounting to P1.26 billion and local sources amounting to P1.258 billion.
The bulk of the budget, P1.33 billion, were allocated to maintenance and other operating expenses, P660 million to personnel services, P252 million to the development fund, P81.7 million to equipment expenses, P7.9 million for financial expenses, and P184 million for other purposes.
Leonardia earlier said for the first time ever, their budget is going to reach P3 billion.
He said he finds it significant and sentimental because it was during his term when the city reached the first P1-billion budget in 2008, its major feature being the local income which constitutes 52 percent and is now bigger than the IRA at 48 percent.
“That shows that our local income had accelerated in a very fast pace which is an indicator that indeed. The economic machineries in Bacolod are moving very fast. We are not just accelerating, we are surging,” he added.
The mayor noted that the proposed P3-billion annual budget is up by a high 19 percent over 2018’s budget, one of the highest increases in the city’s local budget history.
“Continuous partnerships with the City Council, the various city government offices, and the constituents have allowed our budget to reach new heights. Our administration’s leadership has consistently raised the city’s financial position, billion by billion, reaching P1 billion in 2008, P2 billion in 2017, and in a short span of three years, P3 billion for the year 2020,” Leonardia said.