The automation of its tax-collection system allowed the Valenzuela City government to collect P3.9 billion in revenues last year.
This was a bit higher than the city’s 2016 total income of about P3.6 billion.
The main bulk of last year’s total collection came from business income (BI) at P2.4 billion and real property tax (RPT) at P1.2 billion.
For 2018, the local government is targeting to hike its income further to P4.2 billion, according to City Treasurer Adelia E. Soriano.
Mayor Rexlon T. Gatchalian pointed to effective and efficient management and innovations of tax-collection procedures as the reasons his administration continue to increase its income each year since he became mayor of Valenzuela City in 2013.
In a text message to the BusinessMirror, Gatchalian said the revenue increase could be attributed to “efficiency, automation. All our [business] permits and business processes in City Hall are automated. We use the latest technology [such as GIS] to assess [the] constituents’ taxes.”
“Technology removes human subjectivity, thereby erasing corruption. On the other hand, we have also streamlined our permits procedures, [thus] cutting [the] red tape,” Gatchalian stressed.
At the same time, the mayor pointed out that “time and time again, agencies like the DILG [Department of the Interior and Local Government] have cited our procedures as one of the fastest in the country. This efficient setup encourages businessmen to invest and set up businesses in the city, [which] increases our number of registered businesses in the city.”
At the same time, the mayor strongly believes that the high trust and belief of the businessmen, real property owners and the residents on his administration’s vision to further improve Valenzuela City into a very vibrant city is another vital reason they all pay proper taxes.
The increase in economic activities in the city can also be attributed to a relatively good peace and order of the city, which is very important to businessmen and investors.
In 2012, when the mayor of the city was Gatchalian’s brother Sherwin, the city’s income was P2.1 billion, according to documents obtained by the BusinessMirror from the city government’s Treasurer’s office.
When Sherwin first became mayor in 2004, the income of the city was only P1.1 billion.
Sherwin is now a senator who belongs to the Nationalist People’s Coalition.
The city’s efficient collection system already produced two awards from the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGC).
The first recognition was for the city’s achievement of having the highest RPT tax collection of P1,232,813,058.38.
The BLGC said the city government has surpassed the collection target of P775,132,398.11, or higher by 59 percent.
The second award it received was for having the second-highest local revenue-collection efficiency, after Valenzuela City also exceeded its 2016 collection target for local revenues of about P1,927,058,126.04. It collected P2,425,770,779.68 in business taxes for a 123-percent efficiency rate.
After receiving the twin awards, Public Information Office Head Zyan F. Caiña said Mayor Gatchalian pointed out that these show “Valenzuelanos were inspired to pay the right taxes because they see very well where their taxes go.”
In October 2014 the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry recognized Valenzuela City as the “the most business-friendly highly urbanized city.”