Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas said the city government is planning to impose an increase in real property tax (RPT) and business tax rates.
The city, according to Treñas, needs to cope with rising expenses, especially that its National Tax Allotment (NTA), formerly known as Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), share for next year decreased by some P300 million.
Aside from lower NTA share, some functions of national government agencies, under the Mandanas ruling, will be devolved to local government units (LGUs).
He cited, for instance, the procurement of P134 million worth of medicines and vaccines, which will be shouldered by the city government.
“Ang akon gid nga ginpangabay sa mga land owners, we are forced to make an increases but we will make sure that the increases will be staggered para indi man masakit sa tanan,” said Treñas.
“We all know that everyone is affected by the pandemic, ti amo ni natabu ginpasa na sang national government because of the Mandanas ruling,” he explained.
The mayor will meet with the city finance committee composed of the City Assessor, City Treasurer and the City Accountant and City Planning and Development Office to discuss the plan.
The city government will also raise the fees at its slaughterhouse in Jaro district.
“Kinanglan naton i-adjust ang aton fees because may mga towns nga lapit sa aton, they are already charging more than we us. So we will adjust nga puloparehas man sang iban diri sa Region 6 para makacatch up kita kay madugay-dugay naman nga waay kita kapasaka,” said Treñas.
On the other hand, the mayor said the city government will not hike rental fees in public markets.
“We will start increasing after maka guloginhawa na ang mga vendors ta para indi man sila matam-an.”IMT
