BAGUIO CITY – The city has generated a total of P252,873,123.37 revenue on real property tax last year or an increase of P17,025,432.90 as compared to P235,847,690.47 in 2015. It also generated an income of P26,924,106.61 from the collection of transfer taxes from the transfer, subdivision and consolidation of real properties representing an increase of P933,933.56 compared to the previous year.
This was reported by the city assessor’s office headed by Almaya Addawe in Monday’s flag-raising ceremonies.
The report revealed that P1,701,000 was generated from the issuance of certifications in 2016 or an increase of P370,400 from the collections of 2015.
“The city assessor’s office has two main functions – to discover and list all real properties and to equitably value real properties. To ensure that all properties are treated uniformly, the office’s procedures must conform to state laws dealing with property taxation using commonly accepted appraisal and accounting practices,” it stated.
In 2016, the city assessor’s office appraised a total of 4,072 new real property units, with an assessed value of P641,759,738.74, including discoveries and new assessments derived from newly-issued building and occupancy permits from the city buildings and architecture office.
The report revealed that the increase in the assessment and issuance of new tax declarations from 1,912 in 2015 to 4,072 last year is attributed to the approval of city ordinance no. 15, series of 2016, granting amnesty to applicants for electric and water connections in the city.
The city assessor’s office also conducted an appraisal of school buildings of the various city public schools last year to provide the general services office (GSO) data for the assets and property management inventory of city-owned properties and for insurance purposes.
A listing of 547 schools was provided by GSO where 318 have been assessed. The city assessor’s office is targeting to complete the assessment of the remaining 229 school buildings by the end of this year.
The report stated that one of the office’s top accomplishments of 2016 was the submission of a proposed General Revision in September that came as a result of the city council’s positive response to Addawe’s presentation during an executive-legislative meeting in July of last year.
In October, 2016, the Bureau of Local Government and Finance issued a certification that the proposed revision has conformed with Local Assessment Regulations.
“To date, the proposal is pending at the city council for deliberation and recommendation. The city assessor’s office is very optimistic that the legislative body will be convinced to adopt our recently submitted New Schedule of Market Values,” the report stated./Gaby Keith#
