BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
The Sangguniang Panlungsod of Bacolod unanimously approved yesterday the 2021 budget, in the amount of P2.6 billion, Councilor Cindy Rojas, chairman of the SP Committee on Appropriations and Finance, said.
Rojas said next year’s budget is 13 percent lower than the budget of Bacolod for this year, amounting to P3 billion, or a decrease of about P400 million.
She explained that the budget cut was due to the decrease in tax payments since many businesses were affected by the ongoing pandemic.
She said that 59 percent of the 2021 budget will be sourced from the city’s Internal Revenue Allotment share from the national government, that is P1.5 billion, and the rest from local sources.
In a memorandum issued in May this year, the Department of Budget and Management stressed that, in view of the limited fiscal space, the entire budget of government agencies for 2021 will need to be reviewed and reprioritized towards containing the spread of coronavirus disease 2019.
The DBM also wrote local government units across the country and called for the reduction of their 2021 budget by at least 35 percent.
Rojas said that among the expenses that were reduced in the city are travel and training expenses, while the budgets for the City Health Office and Social Services were increased as they are involved in the fight against Covid. She assured the public that the services of the city government will not be affected by the budget cut.*
