World Bank cites City Hall’s taxation system
Global funding agency World Bank (WB) cited Iloilo City Government’s successful performance in its computerized taxation system which generated significant improvement on its revenue collection.
“We understand that the real property tax administration (RPTA) experience of Iloilo City as part of the Resource Mobilization Component of the Local Government and Finance Development (LOGOFIND) Project has produced very good results which have significantly improved the financial position of Iloilo City,” said Christopher Pablo, senior operations officer of WB-Manila.
The city’s experiences in the development and implementation of the RPTA system have been highlighted during a recent workshop here conducted by WB in partnership with the Landbank of the Philippines.
The WB-Landbank initiative aims to improve the capacity of the local government units (LGUs) to implement revenue improvement and enhancement programs for LGUs to ensure financial sustainability such as the improvement of real property and business tax mapping operations.
Given the positive impacts of the city’s RPTA system, WB-Landbank brought in representatives from LGU of Sta. Rosa, Laguna to learn about the best practices and benefits of RPTA and Business Tax Enhancement (BTE) projects.
The World Bank-initiated computerization project has transformed the City Treasurer’s and Assessor’s offices to an effective and efficient service delivery provider resulting to successful tax collections. Both offices have also embarked on tax mapping activities.
With the computerization installed last year, Mayor Jerry Treñas said the City Treasurer’s Office has posted significant collections on RPT and business taxes in the first eight months of the year in pursuit of hitting budget estimate this year.
From January to August, business and other taxes topped the collections at P249million or 93 percent of the P269million target for the whole year.
Real property taxes collections amounted to P134million or 83 percent of P163million target for this year.
The Institute of Solidarity in Asia (ISA) also cited Iloilo City’s breakthrough in revenue generation, thus conferring the city with a business-friendly status under its public governance system.
The ISA affirmed that the City Hall has been able to increase its income through improved tax collections and streamlined business registration processes. (PIO)