BAGUIO CITY – The City Treasury Office announced the city government has more than P5.047 billion cash in bank appropriated for the implementation of priority development projects, personal services and delivery of basic services to the people living in the different city barangays.
City Treasurer Alex Cabarrubias disclosed that of the said amount, more than P4.2 billion has been classified under general fund, approximately P120 million has been classified under the city’s special education fund and more than P661 million has been considered as the local government’s trust fund.
He claims the city government’s funds are deposited in the different depository banks of the city that include the Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines and Philippine Veterans Bank Among the items included in the city’s general funds include funds earmarked by the local government for its personal services, maintenance and operating expenses, capital outlay, the 20 percent local development fund, and the 5 percent local disaster risk reduction fund.
The city government primarily derives its funds from externally and internally generated revenue sources that range from its internal revenue allotment (IRA), the collection from the implementation of local revenue measures and fees that are levied on services and the city’ share from the operation of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
Cabarrubias said the city government is in a good financial position because it has no outstanding debt with any financial lending institution coupled with the fact that the city treasury is always able to exceed its income collection target annually amidst the absence of the required increase in taxes for over two decades now.
However, he admitted the excess in the city treasury’s tax collection efforts is not actually sufficient to fund the programmed implementation of high-impact development projects and contribute in the efforts of the city government to further improve the delivery of basic services to the city’s constituency in the different barangays.
According to him, the city treasury office remains bullish in continuously exceeding its projected income collection target this year which amounts to over P2.03 billion which is more than P200 million higher compared to the P1.89 billion income collected by the city last year coupled with the challenge that was imposed on the city’s finance officers for the collection of more than P300 million in new income for the city this year.
He asserted that if the increasing collections of entrance fees in the city’s major parks will continue up to the end of the year, then the contribution of the entrance fees to the internally generated resources will be significant as an added source of revenue for the city, especially at the present that it needs more funds to sustain the implementation of the city’s big ticket projects programmed for this year for the establishment of a better Baguio.
The city government is not totally dependent on the IRA to sustain its regular operations as most of the funds for its annual budget come from internally generated funds that come from the taxes and fees paid by the people.
By Dexter A. See