The actual income of the city government here has increased by 18 percent from PHP1.1 billion in 2021 to PHP1.35 billion in 2022. In the Pakabat ed Baley (State of the City Address) on Monday, Mayor Belen Fernandez said the increase can be attributed to the efforts of the government employees especially at the one-stop business center (OSBC). ‘Masinop ang pamamahala ng mga kawani ng OSBC. Nangangahulugan din ito na bumabalik na at gumaganda na ang ekonomiya (The employees at the OSBC are organized. This also means that the economy is bouncing back and getting better),’ she said. Based on the data from the City Information Office, collection from business taxes and licenses amounted to PHP213 million in 2022 while the market collection was at PHP69 million. Collection from the city’s public comfort rooms was at PHP4.4 million while the city’s share in the national tax allotment reached PHP861 million. The city has collected PHP69 million in real property taxes, interest income at PHP5.8 million, and garbage fee collection at PHP11.8 million. Fernandez said they target to streamline the services of the OSBC and other city government offices in 2024. ‘Isinasaayos na ang sistema sa pagpapalawig ng computerization ng ating mga proseso sa OSBC upang maging mas mabilis at maingat ang proseso (We are organizing the systems for the further computerization of the processes of the OSBC for it to be fast and efficient),’ she said. She said the city government will allot funding for the digitalization and community-based monitoring system in 2024. She did not yet confirm the amount of funding for the said program. Meanwhile, the yearly expenditures of the city in 2022 amounted to PHP951 million. Among the funded projects was overtime pay for employees which amounted to PHP6 million; expenditures for youth and sports, PHP4.6 million; scholarship grants, PHP104.6 million; and appropriations for children, PHP389 million. Meanwhile, Fernandez said among the other focus of the local government for this year is the dredging of river systems in the city to prevent flooding, which is a perennial problem here. Infrastructure projects for schools and villages have been lined up as well as social services, among other projects. (

Source: Philippines News Agency