BAGUIO CITY – The City Treasury Office confirmed the temporary night market along Harrison road is obviously generating better income than the fixed rentals collected by the local government from leaseholders of the market stalls at the city public market.
City Treasurer Alex Cabarrubias reported there are some 1,044 night market vendors along the 500-meter stretch of Harrison road every night with each of them paying P350 every week to the local government.
For this year, the night market operation, which is only good for nine months and a half because of the non-operation of the vendors for at least two and one-half months due to the rains and typhoons, was able to generate income amounting to at least P14.9 million.
Comparatively, Cabarrubias revealed the 1,890 stalls in the public market, the nearly 800 stalls in Bocks III and IV and the more than 970 stalls in the relocation site account for an annual income for the city in the amount of P26 million only, which makes it appear that the city is not actually earning enough from the nearly 3,000 market stalls.
He disclosed there are some leaseholders in the market who pay to the city only P90 per month while there are some stallholders who pay at least P3,000 in monthly rentals depending on the size of their stalls, thus, the need for the review of the market stall rentals.
According to him, the over 1,500 stalls in Blocks III and IV and the relocation site account for a total of P9 million in annual income while the nearly 1,900 stalls in the city’s public market account for only P17 million annual income for the city.
He claimed the fees being charged by the city from leaseholders of the various stalls in the public market have not been revised since 1988, thus, the need for updating of the city’s revenue code.
By next year, the local treasury office projected that it will be able to generate at least P30 million from the fixed rentals of existing market stalls in the public market, Blocks III, IV and the identified relocation site while it also forecasts an income of P14.5 million from the operation of the night market for nine and one-half months.
It is easy to predict the income from the rentals of the market stalls because these are fixed rates, thus, the total income to be derived from the city’s public market could go as high as P30 million, including the arrears paid by delinquent leaseholders.
Cabarrubias expressed confidence that the local treasury office will be able to collect the fixed market rentals and the night market fees to help sustain the increase in internally generated resources.
By Dexter A. See
