BACOLOD City Councilor Cindy Rojas, chairperson of the City Council committee on finance, will hold a public hearing on the proposed P2.6-billion annual budget for 2021 on November 9.
Rojas said Thursday, November 5, that the hearing will be attended by various department heads to defend their proposed budget for 2021.
She said the proposed budget is about 13 percent lower than this year's P3-billion budget.
The City Council will also review the proposed budget if there is a need to increase or decrease the proposed 2021 budget.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia earlier said Bacolod City will slow down because of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
"Bacolod was accelerating very fast during the past years. It took us 80 years to reach our first billion budget, but it only took us nine years to reach the second billion and only two years to reach the third billion. So that's how fast we were growing, but all of a sudden because of this pandemic, we have to slow down," Leonardia said.
He said that for the first time, after a long time, the budget dropped by about 13 percent but he believes that this is very understandable.
He added that the proposed budget will not affect the funds for the City Health Office since the health concern is now the priority because of the pandemic.
This year's budget prioritizes health services, the solid waste management,
social welfare services, public order and safety, anti-drug campaign as in line with the national thrust, improvement of traffic management, economic and infrastructure development, tourism and education.
Leonardia said this year's 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.