CAGAYAN de Oro City Treasurer Glen Bañez said Friday, October 14, the P5.4-billion budget proposal, the biggest amount ever proposed since City Mayor Oscar Moreno assumed office, has undergone serious deliberations before it was passed to the City Council.
"Gi-deliberate na ug maayo sa different department dinhi sa siyudad kay ila man gi-identify ang ilang priority projects sa 2017, so far ang nigawas ana nga total budget is mao kanang 5.4 billion," Bañez said.
Bañez said the city has the capacity to release the said amount considering the City Government's revenue including tax from business establishments that has yet to be collected.
He said the taxes that its office has so far collected now reaches almost P3 billion.
"Kaya nato considering na this year, nakakolekta nata ug almost mga P3 billion plus naa pa tay bilin nga mga around P936 million, ang business tax nato for next year increase ug kining bag-o nga gitindog nga mga business establishments sa dakbayan, hopefully, maka-increase sad ni sa revenues," he said.
"And another, the fact nga dako pa tang collectibles diha sa atong market, ato ng i-submit sa City Council," he added.
About P4.049 billion of Moreno's proposed budget is placed under the general fund, while an amount of P500 million is allotted for borrowings, P444.340 million is intended for the special education fund and P281.617 million is for the development fund.
The general fund, Moreno said, will be utilized for his priority projects such as the construction of rehabilitation centers, health and education programs, infrastructure, and social services.
Moreno's budget proposal worth P5.4 billion for the 2017 annual budget signifies a 60 percent increase compared to last year's P4.8 billion but it was later slashed into half at P2.4 billion.
In 2013, a P3.8 billion budget was approved while the succeeding year, only P2.31 billion was approved of the P2.64 billion budget proposal.
