Bacolod nearly meets 2015 local revenue target in 5 months

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Mayor Monico Puentevella said Bacolod City had collected P504 million in local revenues in first 5 months of 2015, almost equivalent to the target set for the entire year.

In his state of the city address at the Bacolod People’s House on Wednesday, July 1, Puentevella stressed that the city government is on its way to achieving its target for 2015.

“From January to May, we have raised more than P400 million in tax revenues, just 23% shy of our target, which is P520 million and with still 7 months to go,” he said.

The city collected almost P104 million in non-tax revenues, just less than P62 million of this year’s target of P166 million.

“Our share from the Internal Revenue Allotment is steady at P861 million, and we are expecting to receive more than P700 million until the end of the year,” Puentevella said.

He said that the aggressive campaign for business registration and the revitalized effort in business mapping operation yielded positive results.

He said there was an increase of 363 registered business establishments this year, compared to the same period in 2014.

He said the City Assessor’s Office inspected at least 22,360 real property units from June 30, 2014, to May 31,2015. It projects an overall increase of P800 million in assessed value of real properties in Bacolod.

The mayor said he is expecting to have an increase of about P21 million in tax collectibles from these properties within the year.

Puentevella stressed that one of the reasons the city is booming is because of the trailblazers “who have planted the seeds of trade and industry” when Bacolod was just starting.

These included the chain of homegrown Lopue’s Department Stores and the Filipino-Chinese and Indian communities “whose entrepreneurial spirit have shaped our local economy.”

The recent multi-billion investment of real property giants – Ayala Land, Megaworld Corporation, and DoubleDragon Properties – in the city is one of the reasons Bacolod is being regarded as one of the country’s leading real estate and business hub.

“Bacolod is booming, and this is our future,” he added.

The mayor emphasized the hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit on Disaster Risk Finance last April, the expansion of businesses, and the influx of Business Process Outsourcing here.

Puentevella also emphasized that the criminal activities in the city dropped. “There was a 28% drop in crime volume from January to May this year, compared to the same period last year.” – Rappler.com