Real property taxes (RPT) and other business dues collected by the city government in 2019 exceeded its expectations by 124 percent.
RPT collections reached P230,818,410.84 from the P141,000,000 originally targeted.
Business taxes collected, on the other hand, were P362,090,106.97 or 130 percent higher than the expected P279,270,000.
The city government also collected P195,320,761.67 from other payments and taxes, exceeding its expected P157,500,000 target.
On city government-owned “economic establishments”, P135,991,399.22 were collected last year. This posted a 126 percent increase from the P108,000,000 originally targeted.
Fees collected from economic enterprises were P108,527,180.16 from the Underground River; P2,603,945.54 from City Baywalk rentals; P3,800,465.52 from the city-owned terminal, and P7,858,614.52 from the City Coliseum.
Local treasury operations officer IV Joel Solina said this happened with the help of communication letters sent early to real property owners before the scheduled deadline of payment.
“Nakatulong dito ‘yong pagpapadala natin ng mga sulat sa mga may-ari ng ari-ariang hindi natitinag. Nakadagdag din ang isinagawang tax campaign sa mga barangay na nagpapaliwanag sa mga mamamayan kung saan napupunta ang mga buwis na ibinabayad,” Solina said in a statement.
City treasurer Corazon Abayari said, meanwhile, that P153 million of the total collection has been included in the general fund of the local government.
While the remaining P73 million will be intended for the Special Education Fund (SEF).
“Nakikita naman nila ang pinatutunguhan nito sa pamamagitan ng maraming programa at proyekto na ipinapatupad, ‘yan ang kahalagahan ng pagbabayad ng buwis. Napupunta ito sa general fund ng pamahalaan at sa education fund na ginagamit sa konstruksyon ng mga gusali at pasilidad, pagbili ng mga kagamitan, kaunlarang pampalakasan, pagbili ng mga libro at pang-edukasyon na pananaliksik,” she said.
