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[av_heading heading=’City budget hurdles 1st SP reading ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY MAE SINGUAY
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BACOLOD City – The Sangguniang Panlungsod on Thursday approved on first reading the city government’s proposed P2-billion annual budget for 2017.
Councilor Caesar Distrito, chairman of the committee on appropriation and finance, said he will soon schedule hearings with city hall departments and offices.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the proposed budget was “P200 million higher than the 2016 budget of P1.8 billion and would mean a per capita of P3,435.42 based on the projected population of 582,170 in 2017.”
An appropriation and finance committee report is a requisite for second and third readings.
Distrito said he aims to complete all hearings before the end of the month.
A bulk of the budget will fund the increase of employees’ salary, he said. Job-order casual workers’ pay will be raised to P10,000 from P7,500.
The budget also includes allocations for the implementation of the Salary Standardization Law among regular employees and for school supplies and miscellaneous fees in public elementary and high schools.
Allotments for free Wi-Fi, cakes for senior citizens and cash allowances for December were included, too, said Distrito.
Increases in Internal Revenue Allotment and local revenue collection were factors in the higher proposed budget, he said.
According to Leonardia, the Department of Budget and Management advised that the 2017 IRA for Bacolod City be set at P1,065,862,247, while local sources amounted to P934,137,753./PN
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