WITH City Hall extending the deadline for payment of business registration and renewal of permits to February 28, a top official urged Cagayan de Oro City’s business owners to avail of the extension as early as possible.
“With (the 20th) City Council approving the extension of the deadline of payment of business permits to February 28, we are appealing to the business owners to avail of this offer so they won’t incur additional penalties/surcharges (after the Feb. 28 extension),” City Administrator Roy Hilario Raagas said during this morning’s flag-raising program.
Raagas confirmed a disclosure by City Hall’s BOSS (Business One-Stop Shop) office that as of last week, nearly half of the 29,000 plus businesses have completed their registration and/or renewal of business permits.
The Business Permits and Licensing Office said 14,616 businesses renewed their permits as of January 27 or a 40 percent increase from the 10,231 recorded last year.
For this year, BPLO chief Jason Adaza said about 969 out of the 14,616 businesses renewed their permits online.
Of the 14,616 businesses that renewed their permits, about 2,880 were retailers, 2,160 were engaged in services, 1,906 were sari-sari store owners, 948 were lessors and 311 were general merchandise owners. City Hall set up extension offices to process business permits at the barangay halls.
They also set up an extension office at SM Uptown Mall for businesses located in the uptown area.
“We are calling on our city taxpayers to avail of the extension. By doing this, they will be able to avail of the condonation of penalties offered (by the Uy administration) and discounts to real property taxes (especially those with advance payments),” Raagas said.
For those still paying their transactions at City Hall, Raagas instructed both department managers and employees with vehicles to ensure that adequate parking spaces be given to the taxpayers.
The congestion experienced at the City Hall grounds due to the onrush of business permit registration and renewal spurred talks for a transfer of City Hall to a better location, which Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy said he is open to considering. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office with a report by Jo Ann Sablad)
