Hearings set for Bacolod’s proposed P2.25-B budget for 2018

Distrito said that 51 percent of the budget would be sourced from the Internal Revenue Allotment amounting to PHP1.14 billion. (Photo By Mclovin’tosh – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0)

BACOLOD CITY— The City of Bacolod is eyeing an annual budget of PHP2.25 billion for 2018, higher by PHP250 million than its budget for the current year.

Councilor Caesar Distrito, who chairs the committee on appropriation and finance, said that after the proposed budget was approved on first reading, marathon hearings would be held on Nov. 20, 21 and 27.

Distrito said that 51 percent of the budget would be sourced from the Internal Revenue Allotment amounting to PHP1.14 billion.

The rest would come from local sources, including real property taxes, regulatory fees, business permits and local taxes, totaling PHP1.10 billion, he added.

Based on the proposed allocations, 50 percent will go to Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) – PHP1.12 billion; 28 percent, Personal Services – PHP629.18 million; 10 percent, Development Fund – PHP229,055 million; 5 percent, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management – PHP112,500 million; 2 percent, Capital Outlay – PHP52.11 million; and 4 percent, Other Expenses, PHP95.12 million.

“We already informed the department heads that this time, we will exercise the authority granted by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to the City Council to provide funds to important matters and priorities that are not included in the proposed budget,” Distrito said.

In Negros Occidental, the Provincial Board began the series of hearings for the proposed 2018 annual budget of PHP3.

54 billion last November 8.

Second District Board Member Salvador Escalante Jr., chairman of the committee on appropriations, budget, finance, ways and means, said they are holding budget hearings every Tuesday and Wednesday, aiming to wrap up the hearings before December.

“We’re hoping that by the first week of December, we can pass the budget,” Escalante said.

Provincial Budget Officer Jose Percival Salado Jr. said the proposed budget for 2018 is about 12 percent higher compared to the current year’s budget, which is PHP3.15 billion.

Next year’s proposed budget of PHP3.54 billion includes the allocation of PHP2.02 billion for the General Fund; PHP1.45 billion for the Hospital Operations Department; and PHP66.28 million for Economic Enterprise, based on the Total Annual Budget Summary report.