Proposed P100-B annual budget for Cebu City ‘unrealistic’ — councilors

Some Cebu City Councilors expressed apprehension about the proposed P100 billion annual budget for 2024.

This is double the 2023 annual budget of P50 billion, and only P7 billion has been collected for 2023.

"Are we really optimistic that we can get the collection of P100 billion for next year, granting that we, the city council will approve, but we still won't be able to collect the amount so we end up not having enough to spend on our appropriations," North District City Councilor Noel Wenceslao asked.

In response, City Budget and Finance Officer Jerone Castillo said the proposed budget is a collective study of the local finance, adding that they are confident that it can be achieved.

"We are not saying we will automatically get the amount. There is just a positive and very good confidence because we look at the economic indicators," Castillo narrated.

He added that the economic indicators for the past 20 years have shown that Cebu City is growing at a really fast rate.

One of the tax collection programs of Cebu City for this year was to collect P28 billion in delinquent real property taxes.

North District City Councilor Jerry Guardo said raising the budget to P100 billion will lead to several departments also submitting bigger budget appropriations.

He cited the reality that the city barely collected 10 percent of the P50 billion for 2023.

"We approved the budget of P50 billion last year, but the collection was only 20 percent efficient," he said.

Based on the P100 billion budget proposal, the largest estimated revenue source for 2024 will be tax revenue amounting to P77.5 billion, followed by non-tax revenue amounting to P10.554 billion. Other estimated revenue sources are shares the city will get from various joint ventures amounting to P7 billion, P2.905 billion from the National Tax Allotment (NTA), P600 million from economic zones, and P288 million from its share of the income of government-owned and controlled corporations, such as the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

The city is also looking to generate P2.095 billion under its special accounts, including P150 million from the operation of city markets, P581 million from the local development fund, P1.185 billion from city hospitals, and P179 million from housing projects.