The Muntinlupa City Council will hold a hearing on Friday, Sept. 25, to clarify the issue of unpaid real property taxes in the city.
This after the Commission on Audit (COA) reported that there was a total of P2.93 billion in uncollected real property taxes including penalties as of 2019.
“Review of the submitted report disclosed a total of P2,122,034,914.04 for the 20 highest delinquent taxpayers for every barangay which taxes have been outstanding since CY 1992,” the annual audit report noted.
In 2019, COA said the Muntinlupa City government collected P1.1 billion in real property taxes representing “the second biggest share of the total revenues earned.”
“In comparison with the target collection per Executive Budget of P1,127,500,000, actual RPT collected during the year was 99 percent of the projection made,” COA said in its annual audit report for the city.
Barangay Alabang has the highest amount of tax delinquency of P1.03 billion which includes lots at Filinvest City, which is a joint venture between the government and Filinvest Development Corp. signed in April 1993. Filinvest City was the former Alabang Stock Farm owned by the government.
Councilor Ryan Bagatsing, chairman of the City Council’s committee on ways and means, said Filinvest’s real property taxes will be tackled in the hearing to clarify the issue on whether the company owes back taxes to the city.
“On Friday, I will conduct a committee hearing with COA, with the treasury office, with assessor and legal just to shed light on it,” said Bagatsing.
He said Filinvest has been consistent in its position that the unsold properties in Alabang that are subject to unpaid real property taxes are jointly owned by the government and the company.
In his letter to COA last July, Muntinlupa City Treasurer Anastacio Minoza said the P1.03 billion real property tax delinquency in Barangay Alabang refers to properties at Filinvest City.
“The properties involved were subject to final and executory decision in LBAA Case No. 04-02 but for reason that the LBAA has no jurisdiction on taxability of properties, this office continued issuing collection notices since tax declarations issued are not exempt per record,” he explained.
A Local Board of Assessment Appeals (LBAA), composed of the registrar of deeds, city prosecutor, and city engineer has “original jurisdiction to hear and decide appeals of owners/administrators of real property from the actions of the provincial, city or municipal assessors in the assessments of their real properties, and from the actions of the provincial, city or municipal treasurers in the collection of real property taxes, special levies, or other real property taxes under Title Two, Book II of Republic Act No. 7160,” according to the rules issued by the Central Board of Assessment Appeals.
Minoza said in 2018, Filinvest Land Inc. filed another protest with the LBAA “questioning the authority and power of the City Assessor and City Treasurer to impose the assessment and to collect taxes on properties which have already been decided by the LBAA as exempt.”