Budget hearing expected to be“fast and easy”

The budget hearing for the proposed P6.29 billion annual budget for Cebu City government's operation in 2018 will be “easy and fast” compared to the past years.

For the first time, members of the City Council committee on budget and finance, which started the budget hearing yesterday, are allied with the current administration.

“It's easy because I was there with them (Local Finance Committee when they prepared the budget) and so I knew. Like I said no surprises because we sat together,” City Councilor Margarita Osmeña told reporters.

Osmeña heads the council's committee on budget and finance and at the same time the deputy mayor for budget matters.

From 2013 to 2016, she was also the head of the committee on budget. But she said she was not invited to the meetings of Local Finance Committee (LFC) that is why budget hearings would take months during those years.

During the hearing, members of LFC defended the sources of funds for the P6.29 billion budget next year.

These fund sources are the P1 billion from real property tax; P1.75 billion business tax; P359 million other local taxes; P355 million regulatory fees; P478 million service/ user charges; P114 million other non-tax revenue; P1.8 billion internal revenue allotment; and P233 million share from ecozone.

Yesterday's first day of budget hearing discussed how the Local Finance Committee prepared the budget and explained the reduction of P1 billion compared to this year's P7.2 billion budget.

City Treasurer Tessie Camarillo, a member of LFC, said the executive department decreased the budget for next year to have a “realizable budget” where collection of taxes will be achieved or surpassed.

In items like the business tax and the regulatory fees, she said the city increased its projection because the City Treasurer's Office will push for a P10 percent increase in tax rates.

“Sa tax rate 10 percent every five years of revision. Wala pa ta ka revise since 1994 maong dili mo-balance and maong sige ta og bloat kay dagko kaayo ang gastos and wala pay increase sa tax base,” she added.

Because of the reduction of the proposed budget next year, there are items that were also reduced such as the city's financial aid from previous year's P3 million to P1 million financial assistance to Association of Barangay Councils; from P3 million to P1 million assistance to Barangay Councilors' League of the Philippines; from P1 million to P500,000 financial assistance to Lupong Tagapamayapa.

Other items that the executive department reduced are: budget proposal from previous year's P807 million to P605 million senior citizens program; P91 million to P78 million assistance for persons with disabilities welfare program, among others.

Osmeña said all barangay workers, persons with disabilities, and senior citizens will receive their annual financial assistance despite the reduction of the budget.

She said the executive department did not propose the whole budget for 2018 since it can be funded through Supplemental Budget once there's actual collection of taxes among other sources.

All offices and special bodies under the Office of the City Administrator and Office of the Mayor already defended their budget proposal yesterday.

Assistant City Administrator Veronica Morelos said there is no significant change in the budget proposal compared to this year's budget.

Morelos said the personal services for next year has increased from P1.7 billion to P1.8 billion because of the mandated increase in the employees' salaries.

Osmeña said the budget hearing will resume on Friday, expecting it to be finished hearing on Monday.