By LITO RULONA Correspondent THE Moreno administration is confident it can increase city hall’s revenues, and defend a P4.8-billion budget being considered by the mayor next year, city treasurer Glenn Bañez said. Bañez said this after Mayor Oscar Moreno announced on Monday that he would propose the nearly P5-billion budget for city hall, a target which his political ally, Councilor Roger Abaday, said was “ambitious” but “achievable.” But the announcement was greeted by raised brows in the Padayon Pilipino-dominated city council because of an alleged decline in local investments this year. They said the figures being cited by the Moreno administration were bloated. Councilor Leon Gan said the city council would approve a budget like that only if the Moreno administration could justify it.“Dili pa ako mo-ingon nga atong aprobahan but kinahanglan pa og basis ang proposed budget. We will only approve if they can prove that the target income can really be obtained by the present administration,” Gan said. He said the city council’s decision would be based on city hall’s performance and income this year. Gan also said city hall’s executives would also need to prepare and submit documents to support their proposed budget for 2016. “They have to justify and quantify the needs,” he said. Gan also said the city council would require city hall’s financial managers to show the local government’s actual revenues, and would not accept a list of delinquent taxpayers. Bañez said the Moreno administration’s figures and projections are based on a through study of the books of accounts of the City Treasurer’s Office that includes a list of delinquent taxpayers, and other collectibles this year.Bañez said the city has continued with its growth, and more investors are coming in. Shell Philippines alone, he said, is pouring in a P30billion investment in Barangay Macabalan. “Easily, we can get taxes from the real property,” he said. Bañez also said firms that were granted tax incentives by city hall in previous years would also start contributing to city hall’s coffers like SM.He said real estate developers and the mushrooming of condominiums in the city would also beef up city hall’s revenues in 2016. He said people who bought condominium units have already started increasing the local government revenues. Bañez said the eastern areas of the city would also see growth with the Ayala group buying lots there, and this would significantly make city hall’s income soar.“Based on the study, if we combine all these developments, these will generate more than our budget target for next year,” he said. Councilor Abaday said that while Moreno’s target “is so ambitious, it can be achieved if the city government and other sectors in the community would support the undertakings.” “This is a symbiotic relationship between the city government and the taxpayer. Ibalik ra man sa gobyerno kung pila ang ilang gibayad nga buhis through basic services. Nalipay kita sa ambisyon sa mayor.This is only a plan but this if achievable espcially if other members of the city council would cooperate,” Abaday said.