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By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent

CITY treasurer Glenn Bañez yesterday hurled brickbats at the city council, accusing it of grave abuse of authority when it approved on Monday an ordinance that extended for the second time the deadline for the renewal of business permits in the city.

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Bañez said the city’s legislature has been hurting city hall’s revenue generation efforts and adversely affecting the tax collection target.

“Another extension would really affect our tax collection because  what will happen is, business establishments may opt not to pay taxes until March 31,” he said.

Bañez said he was waiting for Mayor Oscar Moreno’s response to the the new ordinance.

On Monday, the city council voted for a measure that moved the  deadline to March 31. The legislature earlier reset the deadline from Jan. 21 to Jan. 31.

Bañez said the councilors who voted in favor of the extension gravely abused their authority when they approved City Ordinance 2016 -10.

First, he argued, there was no request for an extension from the office of Mayor Moreno.

Second, Bañez added, there was no new and valid reason for the city council to move the deadline to March 31.

He said the city council used the Jan. 16 letter-complaint of the Coalition of Chambers of Commerce and Industry here as scapegoat.

The Coalition earlier sought the extension of the renewal of business permits because of its concerns. The concerns are on the full implementation of  the Cagayan de Oro Revenue Code of 2015, the mposition of  environmental fee for plastic bags, garbage fees,  Bureau of Fire Protection  inspection fees, the 15-percent presumptive  increase of tax on the  gross sales, status of taxpayers whose  payments last year were made under protest, and the imposition of  advance  business tax contractor  or engineering tax aside from the payment of regular contractor’s fee.

Bañez said he already explained and answered all questions before the city council’s finance committee in Jan. 26.

“I already answered everything. Members of the city council cannot say that they don’t know because I have given them answers,” Bañez said.

Bañez said the first extension, from Jan. 21 to Jan. 31, made city hall fall short of its collection target. He said as of Jan. 29, city hall only collected some P602 million.

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