The Makati City government has met 83 percent of its P17.1 billion full-year revenue goal for 2019 after it posted a total P14.2-billion collection as of July.
Mayor Abigail Binay said her administration was on track with its revenue target of P17.1 billion for the year, noting that Business Tax had the biggest share with P7,839,128,771.19, or 80 percent of target.
“Business tax remains to be our biggest sharer of revenues, and I am glad that our efforts to make it easier and more convenient to do business in the city have translated to sustained revenue growth,” she said Friday.
Binay recalled that the city had attained 56 percent of its revenue target last February, collecting a total of P9.51 billion which topped by 11 percent the amount collected in the same period last year.
The city chief executive also noted that the city has already surpassed its target revenue collection from real property tax, posting P4,843,474,149.46 as of end-July, or over one percent higher than the target of P4,785,000,000.
“We are expecting the figures for realty tax to go higher in the coming months, especially since we will soon publish the list of delinquent properties that will be put up for public auction sometime this November,” she said.
Binay reminded real property owners with delinquent tax payments to immediately coordinate with the Realty Tax Division and settle their tax obligations before their properties are put up for auction.
Based on the report of City Treasurer Jesusa Cuneta, the city’s revenue collection reached P14,239,800,251.81 as of end-July, with the bulk coming from Business Tax, followed by Realty Tax. Income from other sources included P627,894,080.06 from Fees and Charges, P95,934,341.76 from Economic Enterprises, P142,588,603.34 from Interest Income, and P691,780,306 from Internal Revenue Allotment.
Data from the Business Permits and Licensing Office showed that as of Aug. 22, there are 3,466 new business registrants in the city, with combined capital investment amounting to P34 billion. In the same period, 34,755 have renewed their business permits, with combined gross sales of P1.4 trillion.
Recently, officers and members of the Makati Business Club praised Mayor Binay for her initiatives to raise Makati’s competitiveness, particularly in business permit processing and issuance.
On the mayor’s orders, the city BPLO streamlined the process of renewal and application for new business permits to three steps, allowing applicants with complete requirements to obtain a business permit within 35 minutes.
At present, the city government is developing the enhanced Business Permit and Licensing System or e-BPLS, a computerized system that will provide easy access to business permits through different platforms.
It was during Mayor Abby’s first term that the city institutionalized the “Business One-Stop-Shop,” wherein the ground floor of the Makati City Hall Building II has been designated as a common site to process applications and payments and issue licenses, clearances, and permits.
For two consecutive years, the city has earned the highest audit rating of an “unqualified opinion” from the Commission on Audit for its fair and honest presentation of its financial statements for 2017 and 2018.
Declared as the country’s richest local government unit, Makati’s total assets to date amount to P230 billion.