City's income reaches P4B but still falls P600M short of target for year

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Treasurer’s Office has reached the P4 billion-mark in income from business and real property taxes including revenues from economic enterprises and other sources.

This is, however, about P600 million short of their P4.6 billion target this year. Today until the December 31, they expect to collect only about P50 million more.

Acting Assistant City Treasurer Emma Villarete said that they fell short in achieving their P1.3 billion target on sale of government lots because this year, they only got the P600 million receivables which represent the installment of Filinvest Land Inc. and SM Prime Holdings for the lots they bought at the South Road Properties.

Villarete said they expected to earn more than P600 million from the sale of SRP lots this year which did not happen.

As of December 16, 2011, the CTO has collected P4,006,511.52. Of the amount, P1.115 billion came from the Internal Revenue Allotment Share of the city, P703.8 million is from extra ordinary receipts, P138.2 million from economic enterprises, P85 million from regulatory fees, P1.3 billion from business tax and other receipts and P646.4 million from real property taxes.

The extraordinary receipts are the collection and income from the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor, income from the Cebu City Resource Management and Development Center, among others.

The economic enterprises of the city include the city markets, slaughterhouse, Fort San Pedro, Cebu City Zoo, Cebu City Condominium, Tubig Project and the Cebu City Medical Center.

The regulatory fees are the collection from the City Traffic Operations Management, City Health Department, Office of the Civil Registrar and the City Environmental Sanitation Enforcement Team.

Villarete said that there is nothing to worry about the P600 million short in target because it doesn’t mean that the city is running out of money. She said that the year is about to end and not even 80 percent of the city’s budget have been obligated.

Villarete said that the city can always realign or cancel, following specific budgetary guidelines. – (FREEMAN)