But the City Council has convinced the mayor of at least extending the deadline for paying real property, business and other local taxes from Jan. 20 to Jan. 31.
The 26-member City Council passed over the weekend an urgent special resolution authorizing the mayor to do so.
The council said the extension was necessary because of the long lines of tax payers queuing up to beat the deadline. The council said the extension would greatly benefit City Hall’s upgraded revenue collection campaign.
The extension, as the resolution says, would not only cover real property taxes but also business and other local taxes.
The mayor earlier turned down proposals for yet another amnesty program for delinquent real property owners. "There is no need for any tax relief measure for this only encourages property owners not to pay their obligations with the city government on time," said the mayor.
This is the first time in recent years that the city government is not extending a tax amnesty to property owners.
Belmonte said the city government is serious about auctioning off real property whose owners have reneged on tax obligations.
He said the city government has implemented in the past several amnesty programs but they were largely ignored by delinquent real property owners.
City Treasurer Victor Endriga said the city expects to collect P76 million in property tax arrears. So far, only P6 million has been collected since the notices of auction have been sent to the owners. – Romel Bagares