EVEN while talk of a potential City Hall transfer to another location is ongoing, Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy’s administration will retain its initiative to establish satellite finance offices in the city, Mayor Uy’s finance advisor said yesterday.
“We’re looking to establish satellite/extension offices in Barangays Puerto, Bugo, Lapasan, and Kauswagan so that real property taxpayers and business owners won’t have to go to City Hall for their transactions. This is in keeping with Mayor Klarex’s goal to decongest City Hall (after seeing for himself) of the long lines of taxpayers who had to wait for hours (to complete their transactions),” said Glenn Bañez, Mayor Uy’s finance advisor, during Thursday afternoon’s local media roundtable.
Bañez said this two weeks before the February 28 deadline extension of the annual registration and business permit renewal at City Hall.
As of February 6, City Hall’s Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) said about 17,009 businesses renewed their permits. Of that number, more than 1,012 renewed their business permits online, said BPLO chief Jason Adaza.
During the media roundtable, Bañez said he and the City Finance Office are strategizing on ways to improve City Hall’s services to the city’s taxpayers and the business community.
“During our meetings with Mayor Klarex, the mayor made it clear that his administration wants to give back to the taxpayers and business owners (for what they sacrificed during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic),” he said.
In his Friday radio program ‘Ang Inyong Alagad: Mayor Klarex Uy’, the mayor reiterated that his administration in City Hall will find ways to enhance its services to the city’s taxpayers and businesses.
“They are the (financial) lifeblood of the city,” Mayor Uy said.
Similarly, Bañez said the finance extension offices are one way of providing convenience to the taxpayers who can now settle their obligations near their areas.
Bañez said City Hall will heavily promote online payments of business permits and other requirements to spare city residents the inconvenience of going to City Hall only to spend hours finding parking space and waiting for the processing of documents.
“We will write the Bureau of Local Government Finance to seek approval of payments coursed (through commercial banks in order to facilitate online payments),” he said.
For now, Bañez said City Hall accepts payments coursed through mobile payment services like GCash and Maya.
In line with their BLGF request, Bañez said they are also considering tapping delivery drivers similar to those employed by Grab to deliver the business permits and other documentary requirements of business owners and taxpayers.
“So their requirements will be delivered to their doorsteps,” Bañez said. (Stephen Capillas of the City Information Office with a report from Jo Ann Sablad)
