BAGUIO CITY – Members of the local legislative body committed to conduct special sessions to pass the proposed annual budget of the local government once the adjusted income statement and expenditures will be submitted to them the soonest.
Local legislators expressed disappointment over the non-receipt of the committed re-adjusted income statement portion of the proposed annual budget of the local government as of their last regular session that prompted them to defer action on the matter pending the submission by the city’s local finance committee on the agreed adjustment of the income statement to reflect a slight increase in the proposed budget.
Earlier, Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan transmitted to the local legislative body the P2.175 billion proposed annual budget of the local government next year.
However, the local legislative body requested the possible increase in the proposed budget specifically in the income portion prior to the start of formal deliberations of the budget of each of the departments and returned the same to the local chief executive which is the one empowered by law to increase the proposed budget.
Since the proposed 2019 Annual budget was returned to the local chief executive to reflect the proposed minimal increase in the budget, the same was never brought back to the local legislative body by the members of the city’s local finance committee for the required conduct of the deliberations of the annual local government appropriations.
Local legislators assured the city’s department heads and finance officers that formal budget deliberations will commence once the adjusted income statement will be returned to the local legislative body and that there will be special sessions that will be scheduled to approve the proposed annual budget before the end of the year if it will be possible.
Under the provisions of the Local Government code, no other items will be deliberated in the different local legislative bodies of local governments once the budget will not be passed and that local legislators will have at least 90 days to approve the required appropriation ordinance. Failure on the part of the local legislative bodies to approve the budget within the 90-day reglamentary period will result to the so-called re-enacted budget wherein the local government will operate on the approved budget of the previous year.
Local legislators are requesting an additional P10 million increase in the proposed annual budget of the local government but the city’s finance officers claimed that what can be increased will probably range from P4 million and below considering that the existing revenue measures have already been maximized and that the council never acted on proposals to increase the tax measures for over two decades that placed Baguio City on the list of the finance department of local governments that have out dated revenue ordinances.
Domogan reminded local legislators to make sure that when ordinances that require budgetary allocations are enacted, there should be a corresponding accompanying revenue measure that will be passed that will provide the sources of funds for the desired program, project or activity that will be implemented to avoid realizing a budget deficit at the end of the year if there will be new revenue measures that will be enforced.
By Dexter A. See
Banner photo by: Meryl Perez
