The Pateros municipal government has imposed computer fees for various transactions including business permits, real property, and motor tricycle and operator permits.
To impose the fees, the Pateros Municipal Council passed Municipal Ordinance 2022-18 amending the local Revenue Code and adding computer fees.
Under the ordinance, which was approved by Mayor Miguel Ponce III, computer fees will be collected from transacting persons. For business permits and licenses, a fee of P250 will be collected in the first year and P350, P450 and P550 in the succeeding years.
A P100 computer fee will be imposed in the first year on motor tricycle and operator permits, public market registration, local civil registry, engineering module, and building permits such as electrical, plumbing, excavation, architectural, civil and structural.
In the assessment of real properties, computer fees ranging from P75 to P375 will be collected in the first year depending on the size of the land based on square meters.
The ordinance explained that under Municipal Resolution 10-2019 approved on March 29, 2019, the Municipal Council authorized Ponce to enter into a public-private partnership for the computerization of the Business Permit & Licensing Office, Assessor's Office, Pateros Land Transportation Office, Accounting Office, Treasury Office, Human Resource Management Office, Budget Office, Engineering Office, Purchasing Office, Local Civil Registrar's Office and General Services Office.
In September 2019, Ponce issued a certification declaring OneDocument Corp. as the principal proponent of the project.
In a letter sent in March this year, OneDocument Corp. provided the Municipal Council with a matrix table on computer fee per transaction per department.
“Considering that computer fees will be collected to Pateros stakeholders, and it is not specifically included to the Revenue Code of this municipality, there should be an enabling ordinance to effectively implement its collection. And that is the intention, this ordinance sought to achieve,” according to the ordinance.