WHERE are we getting the P32 billion?
This remains to be the question of opposition Councilor Mary Ann de los Santos even after the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) approved the annual budget of Cebu City amounting to P50 billion.
Cebu City Budget Officer Marietta Gumia announced during the budget hearing on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, that the DBM had approved the annual budget of the City.
Gumia said of the P50 billion the City allocated for the 2023 annual budget, P49.7 billion was considered “operative.”
Considering that the 2022 annual budget was only P12 billion, de los Santos asked where the City would be getting the P32 billion.
Gumia said the ball would now be in the local finance committee’s court, to come up with the amount needed for the annual budget.
De los Santos questioned how the City would operate using the amount “that is not really there.”
“We are putting our city, we are jeopardizing the City of Cebu, in this very dangerous decision. We are operating on the budget which is not really there in truth and in fact,” said de los Santos.
In previous reports, Councilor Noel Wenceslao, author of the ordinance for the 2023 annual budget, said the local finance committee certified that if the City Government will “improve and enhance” its tax collection method, the collection of P50 billion can be achieved.
One of the officials’ options is to go after delinquent taxpayers and collect taxes from transactions happening within the jurisdiction of the city but being booked in a company’s head office located in Metro Manila.
Based on the ordinance for the 2023 annual budget, the source of funds for the P49.7 billion General Fund Proper would be tax revenues of P44.5 billion, non-tax revenues of P2.1 billion, National Tax Allotment of P2.7 billion and the share from economic zones of P300 million.
Gumia said proper implementation of checks and balances is one way of achieving the annual budget; however, she also said if the City would not be able to raise such amount for the 2023 budget, some projects or programs may be continued or implemented next year.