Tommy Osmeña bewails low tax collection

CEBU CITY — Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who reported back to office the other day, said he observed that the city’s tax collection is very low, and he is worried that some of his projects may not be realized due to lack of funds.

Although he admitted that the city’s tax collection for the first few months of this year is higher compared to the same period in 2001, he said the increase is still low compared to the tax collection during his term in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Osmeña started serving as mayor of this city in 1987, and ended his term in 1995.

He told reporters that during his eight years in office, the average annual increase in tax collection was 38 percent.

From January to May this year, the city treasurer’s office collected only about P230 million in real property taxes.

City treasurer Ofelia Oliva has failed to provide the figures on collections from business permits.

The mayor arrived late at the City Hall Monday morning and failed to attend the flag-raising ceremony after his vehicle got stuck in a traffic jam along M. Velez street in the Capitol Site area.

He then went to the office of Oliva together with city administrator Nigel Paul Villarete, and they discussed the city’s financial situation.

Oliva told Osmeña that as of June 13, the city had P1.2 billion in bank deposits. But this does not mean, she added, that the city is financially stable.

Of the P1.2-billion bank deposits, Oliva said P255 million has been placed in trust funds, which means that these funds have been allocated to specific projects and thus, cannot be used for other purposes.

Part the money kept in trust funds is the city’s P3-million monthly income from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. This amount is intended only for peace and order programs and other projects, but not for infrastructure.

Oliva said the city has P894 million in banks which has been placed under the general fund where the salaries and other benefits of the city’s 4,000 employees are taken from.

Osmeña prodded Oliva to intensify the collection of all kinds of taxes and to initiate legal proceedings against delinquent taxpayers if they continue to ignore demand letters. — Freeman News Service