Makati tops revenue goal by 8.8 percent

MANILA, Philippines - Makati City has topped its revenue goal last year by 8.8 percent, with a total collection amounting to P12.79 billion generated from business and realty taxes.

City treasurer Nelia Barlis said residents and the business community could look forward to improved programs and services from the city government, with adequate funding assured for its 2015 budget of P12.2 billion.

For the past 28 years, Barlis said Makati’s annual revenue collection has consistently grown even in times when the country is faced with financial and political crises. It also remained deficit-free for over two decades now.

Barlis said the city’s financial stability has been buoyed by strong investor confidence, as shown by the increase in its business tax collections and the number of new business registrants each year.

Last year, the city Business Permits Office registered a total of 4,618 new businesses.

Compared to 2013, the total revenue collection of the city increased by seven percent, from P11.99 billion to P12.79 billion last year. The biggest share came from business taxes – which increased by seven percent to P6.58 billion, or 51.4 percent of total revenue.

Real property tax collection, meanwhile, increased by eight percent to P4.49 billion, making up 35.1 percent of the total income for the year.

From other local sources, the city collected P638.21 million from fees and charges and P243.53 million from economic enterprises.  

Barlis said the city’s share from the national government or internal revenue allotment (IRA) amounted to P769 million, which represents a mere six percent of its total income.

“Makati is among few local government units in the country that are not dependent on the IRA,” she said.

Barlis said even without increasing its tax rates since the revised Revenue Code was implemented in 2006, the city government hit its targets because of improvements in business permit processing and tax collections.