BAGUIO CITY – The city government will relax its existing policies on the payment of taxes and rentals on city-owned properties once the prevailing Luzonwide enhanced community quarantine will be lifted to provide taxpayers relief in settling their outstanding obligations with the city.
City Budget Officer Leticia O. Clemente said residents who did not settle their quarterly business and real property taxes for March and June will be given until the end of the first semester to pay the same to the city while the remaining quarterly payments should be settled up to the end of the year without the prescribed penalties and surcharges.
However, she clarified that those who were not able to settle their business and real properties for January and February will still be imposed the prescribed penalties and surcharges.
For those leasing market stalls, spaces in government properties and buildings erected on government lots, the city budget officer said they will be given 3 months to settle their outstanding obligations for March and April where the same will be equally divided and will be added to their payments for May, June and July once the enhanced community quarantine will be lifted..
Clemente added that for market stallholders, lessees of spaces in government buildings, among others that did not operate during the duration of the enhanced community quarantine, the city government will no longer collect from them their prescribed rentals during the aforesaid period.
Further, the city government also suspended the collection of the daily taxes from market vendors in the city public market and the monthly rentals paid by the operator of the public comfort rooms as these facilities had been non-operational during the quarantine period.
Earlier, the city’s finance officers projected that for this year, the city government will be collecting some P300 million in business taxes, P110 million in real property taxes, P800,000 monthly from daily taxes in the city public market, P300,000 monthly rental for the operation of the public comfort rooms, P220 million share from the operation of locators in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) among other sources of income to sustain the implementation of the programs, projects and activities that were approved under the city’s P2.255 billion annual budget.
Clemente explained to the city government’s management committee that the figures she presented were just initial estimates of the losses the city will suffer as one of the serious negative impacts of the prevailing Luzonwide enhanced community quarantine to the income generating efforts that had been computed based on the city’s income last year.
The city legislative body will incorporate the mode of providing tax relief to the city’s taxpayers in an ordinance being crafted granting tax reprieve to the city taxpayers.
By Dexter A. See
Photo by: Armando Bolislis