Some three hundred (300) business establishment owners and personnel gathered over the past week for the 2018 Taxpayers Symposium, held at Heroes Hall.
Hosted annually by the City Government of San Fernando, through the City Treasurer’s Office, the symposium highlighted topics on Collection Updates for 2018 and Collection Target for next year.
City Treasurer Mary Ann Bautista, during her discussion, revealed that as of October 31, 2018, the city has already accomplished 1.43 billion pesos (combination of the city’s Internal Revenue Allotment or IRA and Local Income), close to the target for the year which amounts to 1.67 billion pesos.
“Hindi po natin target na magkaroon ng 100% or perfect collection pero ito po ay napakaganda ng koleksyon para sa ating lahat and hindi ito magma-materialize kung hindi sa inyong (Taxpayers) kontribusyon. This is a manifestation of a strong public-private partnership,” expressed Bautista.
In his speech, Mayor Edwin “EdSa” Santiago cited that Taxpayers are the blood life of San Fernando, enabling the city to create programs and projects for the Fernandinos.
“I always say that Economic Development is a work of the private sector. Kaming nasa gobyerno, we utilize that ‘economic’ share ng Taxpayers para makagawa ng programa at proyekto para sa komunidad,” expressed Santiago.
He added that with the help of these establishments, the city became inspired to go extra mile in investment, citing a bigger projected income for the next year.
“Tayo ang pamantayan ngayon sa investment at ease of doing business. Every year, lumalaki ang income ng siyudad, and for this year, ang projected income natin for 2019 will be 1.91 billion pesos. This is because you (Taxpayers) really help us make a stronger investment,” he added.
Meanwhile, Business Permit Processing, and Business Permits and Licensing System (BLPS) Requirements and Procedures were also discussed by BLP Division, through its Chief Joseph Garcia, while, the City Health Office held re-orientation on the Smoke-Free Ordinance of the city, which also covers business establishments.
Also present during the activity were Vice Mayor Jimmy Lazatin, City Councilors Reden Halili and BJ Lagman, and some CSF-LGU heads of offices.