Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia (PNA file photo)
CEBU CITY – The provincial government has vowed to intensify its real property tax collection from various business establishments to support programs to better its public service.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said Wednesday the effort to re-appraise real properties in 44 localities in the province would boost the assessment and collection of taxes at the municipal level.
Garcia cited the municipalities of Liloan, Sibonga, Dumanjug, Consilacion, and Bantayan for their triple-digit increase in revenue collection following the re-appraisal of real properties in their respective localities.
The governor met with the municipal assessors on Monday to reiterate the effort of the provincial government to collect the proper taxes for the realties situated in different municipalities here.
“We don’t want to make the business difficult. We will just collect what is right, and what is proper. It’s certainly not for our pockets as it will go straight to the treasury to be used in our many projects for the benefit of our people,” Garcia said in Cebuano in a statement Wednesday.
The governor ordered the re-appraisal of real properties, citing the poor collection performance of the local government units in the past years.
However, Garcia expressed hopes to raise more revenues with the re-appraisal effort.
The re-appraisal has been introduced on top of the task force organized in each municipality to collect real property taxes, including improvements introduced in the lot.
The governor cited Republic Act 7160, the Local Government Code in strengthening its real property revenue collection and its programs and projects to be funded from the taxes collected.
Under the law, a province is entitled to a 35 percent share of the real property taxes, while the collecting municipality retains 40 percent, and the barangays are entitled to the remaining 25 percent. (PNA)
