By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent
CITY hall is planning to use its power to auction off the properties of delinquent taxpayers in the city in an effort to collect over P1.6 billion in unpaid real property taxes and market stall rentals that have ballooned since 2008.
City treasurer Glenn Bañez he has already notified Mayor Oscar Moreno, the city council, the Commission on Audit (COA), and the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) about the need for city hall to apply pressure on delinquent payers.
From 2008 to 2016, unpaid taxes and stall rentals in the city hall-owned markets rose to P1,635,201,814.68.
Unpaid real property taxes account for much of the collectibles at P914,703,114.19 while the remainder are from market stallholders at Cogon, Carmen and Bulua who owe city hall P56,724,695.05.
“Bo-ot pasabot niini nga since 2008, ang city assessor nag-sigi lang ug assess sa real property kada tuig pero walay bayad-bayad sa ilang real property taxes kay ang city hall wala may pressure to collect taxes through public auction,” said Bañez.
Applying pressure in order to collect needs political will, he said. “Ang pag-collect sa tax collectibles, anti-vote man gud na.”
The list of delinquent taxpayers include former government officials, and city hall is determined to make them pay up, Bañez said.
He said the City Treasurer’s Office would soon go public with the list of delinquent taxpayers.
Bañez said he brought the matter to the attention of local officials, COA and BLGF to remind that that since 2008, city hall never used its “power to public auction” against delinquent payers.
There is no other way, he said, for city hall to pressure delinquent payers to settle their obligations but to issue notices of public auction.
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