The Office of the City Treasurer of Makati reported over the weekend that total revenues collected from local sources reached over P8 billion in January, which was already 56 percent of the full-year target.
Acting City Treasurer Jesusa Cuneta also cited in her report an 8-percent increase in collection over the same period last year from locally sourced revenues, which include business tax, real-property tax, fees and charges and economic enterprises.
“With major initiatives of the city now well under way or set for implementation this year, increased revenue collection is certainly welcome news to us. It means we can confidently proceed with our plans for the year,” Mayor Abigail Binay said.
The mayor said the increased revenue collections can be attributed to more efficient processes at the city hall, as well as the renewed investor confidence.
“Aside from our proactive collection efforts, we can credit our healthy revenue growth to improved processes at city hall, which have made transactions more convenient and transparent, thus, inspiring stronger investor confidence,” she added.
Records of the city’s Business Permit Office (BPO) show an increase in new business registrants and renewed business permits in the first month of the year compared to January last year. From 125, the number of new businesses grew to 243, while renewed permits rose from 29,225 to 31,311. The combined investment capital of new businesses has been estimated at P1.5 billion.
Based on the Treasurer’s report, business tax earned the highest revenue with P4.1 billion (46-percent attainment rate), which is 7 percent higher than the collection in January 2017. The next highest income came from real-property tax with almost P3.6 billion (78 percent attainment rate), showing a 9-percent hike from last year.
Other local sources include fees and charges with P313.2 million, or 49 percent of target and 9 percent higher, and economic enterprises with P15.8 million, or 7 percent of target and 33 percent higher than last year.
Meanwhile, the city has earned P27.7 million in interest income, or 17 percent of target, and received P94.8 million, or 9 percent of its estimated internal revenue allotment (IRA) from the national government. Unlike many local government units, Makati is not dependent on the IRA.
Total revenue collections of the city as of January from both local and external sources amounted to P8.12 billion, or 52 percent of gross revenue target for the year.
Meanwhile, the Treasurer’s report also showed the city to be on track of the higher revenue targets set by the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) under the Department of Finance.
Based on the BLGF performance target for Makati for fiscal year 2018, the city has attained 47 percent of total estimated income from local sources for the year as of January 31. Collections from realty tax reached 53 percent of target, followed by business tax at a 45-percent attainment rate.
In 2017 the city posted a two-digit increase in revenue collections for the first time in about 12 years. Its gross revenue collections reached P16.97 billion, or 116 percent of its full-year target, and 12 percent more than the 2016 collections. Business tax remained the top revenue source with P8.22 billion, followed by real-property tax with P6.22 billion, posting an increase of 10 percent and 15 percent, respectively.