The Mabalacat City Government (MCG) has cited benefits following the approval of its updated Local Revenue Code (LRC) 2023 by the Sangguniang Panlungsod, headed by Vice Mayor Gerald Guttrie Aquino.
In a live radio interview on the program ‘Tatak MCG’ with Jay Pelayo IV on RW95.1FM last Tuesday Jan 17, City Administrator Franco Alejo Madlangbayan and City Accountant Oscar Deang, Jr. explained the benefits and justification of the LRC approval for 2023.
Madlangbayan shared the big projects of the local government in 2023 which include the purchase and construction of new city hall building at a 3-hectare lot along MacArthur Highway, in Barangay Mabiga, as well as the building of a health and wellness center, the plan of putting up a state-of-the-art command center, slaughterhouse and the overall improvement of the city’s public market in barangay San Francisco.
Deang Jr. on the other hand, explained that these projects are relevant to meet the growing demand of the city, hence, it is also timely to update the local revenue code in order to support the mentioned projects and programs of MCG. He also added that the city’s LRC is outdated. In fact, it’s Real Property Tax was last updated in the ‘90s while the business licenses and fees were last updated in 2005.
“Napapanahon ito kasi, to be viable and be able to operate, dapat hindi nalulugi ang local government,” Deang added.
He also discussed that the adjustments made were allowed by the law by virtue of Republic Act 7160 (An Act Providing for a Local Government Code of 1991), which allows cities to update their revenue codes, since Mabalacat transitioned from a municipality to a city in 2012.
The city accountant also clarified that the tax adjustments are aligned with the revenues of the payors and their ability to pay.
“Ang mga magbabayad lang ng tax ay yung kumikita na exterprises o negosyo. Kung ang isang negosyo ay hindi kumikita, wala ring maita-tax sa kanya,” Deang furthered. He also added that the city only applied an average of 35% increase to its rates as opposed to the recommendation of up to 50% adjustments on the law. This is still lower than the rates of the neighboring cities like Angeles and San Fernando.
With these adjustments, the city is projecting to gain about Php100 million to its local revenues which will be utilized for the projects, services and programs of the local government.
