BACOLOD City – With the increase of the city’s National Tax Allotment (NTA) by about P3 million, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez cited several priority projects to be implemented next year.
The city mayor revealed that the 2025 NTA of the city will be more than P2.2 billion – much higher than the P1.9 billion for this year.
“The city has already begun with the budget call, then let us see,” said Mayor Benitez.
He said he is eyeing to improve the city’s command center by installing a comprehensive closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera network to ensure security, and peace and order.
This is on top of his administration’s ongoing programs and projects for health and housing, among others.
Mayor Benitez said the construction of the P80-million command center has already started at the city government’s property in Barangay Taculing. The three-storey facility aims to strengthen the disaster preparedness and response of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.
The command center, he added, will be operated through as public-private-partnership.
Mayor Benitez further said that under his administration, the city has surpassed the collection in 2019, or before the coronavirus pandemic.
Data from the City Treasurer’s Office showed that in 2023, total revenue from local taxes, regulatory fees and other charges reached P1.4 billion, or P500 million higher than the collection in 2019.
“This 2024, we are expecting P1.7 billion in local revenues. This would be made possible by our efforts to increase collection efficiency,” the city mayor said.
For this year the city is operating under the 2024 annual budget of P3.6 billion which was sourced out from the local revenues of P1,629,870,000, and P1,970,130,000 from the NTA./PN
