DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 5 Feb) – The Department of Budget (DBM) has slashed the city’s internal revenue allotment (IRA) by P13.83 million.
Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang, chair of the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s finance committee, revealed Tuesday that the IRA cut was due to the ratification of the cityhood law of the Municipality of San Pedro, Laguna and the transfer of Barangay San Isidro from Bangui town to Dumalneg in the province of Ilocos Norte.
Several cities and municipalities were affected, Dayanghirang said.
Speaking to reporters, he read a Jan. 15 letter from the regional office of the Department of Budget and Management to Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte.
The letter read that Davao City’s IRA share has been adjusted to P2.898 billion from a previously allotted P2.912 billion for 2014.
For provinces and barangays, however, the amount of shares disbursed last year remains the same.
The councilor said that while the city needed to reassess its budget, there was no need for legislation amending the P5.165 billion 2014 budget – which took into consideration locally sourced funds like real property taxes, fees for permits and licenses, among others – that was approved in December.
“We have to discuss it with the local finance committee, naturally we have to adjust,” he said.
He added the city needed to increase collections of real property taxes and other income-generating sources, citing the collection of taxes from the Davao Light and Power Company electric poles as an example, to offset the change in the IRA.
Dayanghirang said the committee will be consulting the DBM on some changes the city will need to do regarding some administrative aspects of the budget.
“We need to do this as soon as possible, depending on the administrative remedies either by the DBM or the city of Davao,” he said.
Dayanghirang added that the committee will also discuss the matter with the City Budget Office.