BACOLOD City – The City Council here approved on Wednesday, December 11, the city’s P4.4 billion budget for next year.
The 2025 budget is 18.18 percent, or P800 million, higher than this year’s P3.6 billion.
The biggest chunk of the budget is allocated for social services at P1,769,730,970, or 40.22 percent.
The remaining will go to general public services (34.99 percent, or P1,539,522,080); economic services (9.11 percent, or P411,016,397); and 15.68 percent, or P689,730,553, for others.
The big increase in the annual budget is due to a greater focus on the city’s revenue generation, as well as the expected increase in the city’s national tax allotment (NTA) by next year.
Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the NTA share of the city in 2025 is around P2.234 billion, almost P300 million higher than the amount this year.
The city’s NTA share this year is P1.97 billion comprising 55 percent of the total budget while the remaining 45 percent, or P1.63 billion, came from local revenue collections.
Councilor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, chairman of the Council’s committee on appropriation and finance, said the 2025 budget will take effect on January 1.
Additionally, during its regular session on the same day, the Council has approved the P42 million for the collective negotiation agreement (CNA) bonus of the qualified city government employees.
The City Council also granted an authority to transact and sign check to the new acting city treasurer, Jose Maria T. Gecosala. He replaced Arlene Memoria who retired as the city treasurer on December 11./PN
