BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
A resolution directing the City Treasurer’s Office through the Office of the Mayor to implement City Ordinance No. 953, Series of 2021 or an Ordinance Granting Tax Relief to Delinquent Real Property Taxpayers of Bacolod City.
The resolution authored by Councilor Al Victor Espino said C.O. 953 is a mere extension of an approved and implemented ordinance, C.O. 936, series of 2020 which granted tax relief to delinquent real property tax payers last year.
It said C.O. 953, Series of 2021 was unanimously approved by the SP on August 11 and had already lapsed into law after 30 days since its passage.
The Mayor’s Office was not able to act on it or veto the said ordinance. As such, it is deemed valid and effective, and bound to be implemented by the City Treasurer’s Office. It is but proper to implement said ordinance considering that it is already effective, the resolution said.
The previous tax relief ordinance C.O. 936 generated P42,666,299.20 of additional income and collection to the City of Bacolod, it said.
By extending such grant to the tax payers, the City of Bacolod can generate more income and collection, and this will also encourage delinquent taxpayers to pay their tax dues and arrears, the resolution added.
C.O. 936 was authored by Councilor Dindo Ramos and co-authored by Espino.
Meanwhile, Espino said the resolution had help the city raise P44 million in new funds in the midst of the pandemic.
He said C.O. 936 was served as a precedent to the new ordinance, C.O. 953 which he authored, were all intents and purposes are the same with C.O. 936. He believes that the city will be able to collect more revenues had C.O. 936 been implemented by the executive branch.
Espino said the City Treasurer claimed that they have received instructions that the ordinance (C.O. 936) should not be implemented yet. But this ordinance had been passed unanimously by the SP so he authored a resolution, during the regular session Wednesday, to implement it.
Since the ordinance was not vetoed by the mayor, this should be implemented by the City Treasurer. He believes that if the City Treasurer starts implementing the ordinance and the collection for December is good, he is planning to extend it for another two months to cope with the months that the ordinance as not implemented, he said.
The ordinance should have been implemented from September 1 to December 31 of the current year, he added.*
