The Makati City government has announced it will open satellite realty tax payment centers in barangay halls beginning Tuesday for the convenience of real property owners with taxes due this third quarter.
Real property owners can pay their taxes from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and only need to present their previous receipt. Each transaction usually takes about five minutes.
On July 4, the payment centers will be opened in Barangays Bel-Air and Urdaneta, followed by Forbes Park and Dasmariñas on July 5. The schedule for the rest of the week is as follows: July 6, Brgys. Magallanes and San Lorenzo; and July 7, Brgys. Bangkal, Pio del Pilar, San Isidro, Palanan, and San Antonio.
On July 10, Monday, the payment centers will be opened in Brgys. La Paz, Sta. Cruz, Singkamas, Tejeros, and Kasilawan; July 11, Carmona, Olympia, Valenzuela, Poblacion and Guadalupe Viejo; July 12, Guadalupe Nuevo, Pinagkaisahan, Pitogo, Cembo and South Cembo. Scheduled to open on July 13 are West Rembo, East Rembo, Comembo, Pembo and Rizal.
Based on the city’s revenue code, the city government offers a five percent discount for quarterly payments made during the first 20 days of the quarter. Meanwhile, late quarterly payments will incur a penalty of two percent per month.
To date, the innovative program covers 31 barangays in the city, excluding the two disputed barangays.
As of April, the city government had achieved 95 percent of its full-year target collection from realty taxes, collecting almost P3.9 billion which is nine percent higher than the same period last year.
Jesusa Cuneta, officer-in-charge of the Office of the City Treasurer, said the city government collected almost P10.2 billion from January to April, nine percent higher than its P800-million collection it made on the same period last year, without increasing taxes.
During the period, the city also collected almost P5.3 billion in business tax, which is 62.9 percent of target for the year and seven percent higher than last year.
Mayor Abigail Binay noted the importance of sustaining the city’s strong relationship with the private sector in ensuring its economic stability.
“The robust growth of our revenues will allow the city government to continue investing in public health, education and social services, and further enhancing the business climate,” she said.
Records of the city Business Permits and Licensing Office show a total of 1,704 new businesses registered since January.
Other revenue sources included in the city treasurer’s report are Fees and Charges, P426.9 million; Economic Enterprise, P67.7 million; Interest Income, P66.1 million; Internal Revenue Allotment, P354.7 million; and Share from Economic Zone, P92.2 million.
Makati is among a few local government units in the country that are not dependent on the Internal Revenue Allotment.
A few months after Mayor Binay took her oath as chief executive of the country’s financial center, several reforms and innovations were made in the systems and operations of the city government to make its services more efficient, accessible and convenient to residents and taxpayers.
These include the convergence of all frontline offices involved in tax payment and renewal of business permits at the ground floor of Makati City Hall Building II, which relieved taxpayers of the burden of going from one building or floor to another. The absence of fixers was also noted by satisfied taxpayers.