REVENUE generated by local government units (LGUs) rose 12% in the nine months to September, the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) reported.
Revenue generated from fees and taxes by all provinces, cities and municipalities rose 12% to P204.09 billion at the end of September, the Department of Finance (DoF) said in a statement Wednesday.
The DoF said LGU tax collections stood at P152.15 billion, up 12% year-on-year, which accounted for 28% of LGU revenue during the period.
Revenue generated from non-tax measures hit P51.94 billion, up 11% year-on-year and made up for nine percent of the LGUs’ total revenue source.
LGU revenue missed the P238.01-billion target, achieving only 84% of the goal for the period.
Of the total tax take, business tax accounted for 47.49% of the total or P95.11 billion, followed by real property tax (P57.03 billion), income from other fees and charges (P30.47 billion) and income from economic enterprises (P17.62 billion), according to the BLGF.
Separately, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III approved the appointments of 186 local treasurers last year, representing 21.4% of the 868 vacancies, while the BLGF designated 1,506 others for different assignments.
This year, treasurers of cities, provinces and municipalities have been set a P307.08 billion collection target, up 19% from the 2019 target, “to drive LGUs to optimize their local taxing and revenue-raising powers.”
About 69% of the target is projected to be raised by cities, estimated at P213.71 billion, followed by P54.19 billion worth of collections by provinces and P39.21 billion by municipalities.
The BLGF exercises administrative and technical supervision over the treasury and assessment operations of LGUs. — Beatrice M. Laforga
