URDANETA City, Region 1’s top city in terms of gross and net income 2007 and 2008, has reported a P66 million income from business taxes in 2009.
Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr., in his state of the city address last week, underscored how business tax collections have increased three-fold from P21.2-million in 2001 to P66-million over his nine-year administration.
Perez, who will step down as mayor this year after completing the maximum three terms allowed under the Constitution, noted how the city government was nearly bankrupt when he first assumed office in July 2001.
“Debts were staggering, collections lagging, the situation appalling,” Perez said.
“Nine years hence, our beloved Urdaneta is now a booming city, a business and education center, a bustling community,” he continued.
The mayor also cited improvement in real property tax collections, from P2.8 million in 2001 to P8.6 million last year.
Revenues from the public markets also showed an increase from P2.82 million in 2001 to P13.3 million in 2009.
He also described how the dying cattle trading business has been revitalized after the Livestock Market was transferred to a bigger, cleaner and more accessible site.
The city abattoir also registered increased earnings from P2.03 million in 2001 to P10.7 million in 2009. The abattoir was upgraded into an AA Slaughter Facility.
The statutory and contractual obligations he inherited in 2001 amounting to P400-million have been fully settled.
“Whatever success we have achieved is because of your support. As I leave, I hope my successors can continue the reforms we have initiated and sustain the gains we have achieved,” the mayor told the crowd who applauded his “graduation speech”.
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