• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod is urging Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez to create the oversight committee on revision of taxes, fees, and charges, pursuant to the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 2019-01 issued by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Finance (DOF).
The resolution authored by Councilors Vladimir Gonzalez and Jude Thaddeus Sayson, said the City Treasurer is proposing to upgrade and increase the tax rates in view of the “our desire to generate more revenues to finance various development projects of the city.”
It said City Ordinance No. 565 series of 2011, or the Revised Local Revenue Code of Bacolod City, was approved last Nov. 18, 2011, and subsequent amendments were made through C.O. 536 dated May 4, 2011; C.O. 627, dated Dec. 27, 2012, and C.O. No. 08-15-760.
Pursuant to Sec. 191 of R.A. 7160, or the Local Government Code of 1991: “Local government units (LGUs) shall have the authority to adjust the tax rates as prescribed therein not often than every five years, but in no case shall the adjustment exceed 10 percent of the taxes fixed under this Code,” the resolution said.
Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2019-01 issued by the DILG and the DOF, provides for the “Guidelines for the Review, Adjustment, setting and/or Adoption of Reasonable Fees and Charges of Local Government Units,” it said.
The resolution said the above quoted JMC provides for the “Creation of and Oversight Committee on the Revision of Fees and Charges by the Local Chief Executive.”
There is a need to balance the different factors affecting the needs of the city to pursue its development programs and projects, revenue generation, efficiency and effectiveness of revenue collection, the burden imposed on the tax payers, and the over-all impact on the city’s investment competitiveness and development, it added.*
