DOF names Quezon City as country's top revenue collector in 2021
Quezon City was named by the Department of Finance-Bureau of Local Government Finance (DOF-BLGF) as the top performing city in the country in terms of local revenue generation after it collected P22.9 billion in taxes in 2021, the city government said Wednesday, Aug. 3.
The DOF-BLGF has announced the National Top Performing Provinces, Cities, and Municipalities in Local Revenue Generation for the year 2021, particularly in three performance areas - Highest Locally Sourced Revenues (LSR), Collection Efficiency of LSR, and Year-on-Year Growth in LSR.
The city ranked first in the Highest LSR category last year.
It also received the “Local Revenue Generation Hall of Fame” recognition after it consistently ranked first in tax collection among all cities from 2018 to 2020.
“We are honored to share this milestone with every QCitizen. Because of your continued trust and support of our administration, we have been able to increase our annual local revenue by more than P10 billion since we assumed office,” Mayor Joy Belmonte said.
City Treasurer Ed Villanueva said that the strong commitment of Belmonte’s administration to good governance has remained the most important driver of the city’s success in terms of tax collection.
"Our QCitizens have seen significant improvements in the way they transact with the city. In various ways, they have expressed their satisfaction with the quality of programs and services that were made available to them. They trust that their hard-earned money would translate into efficient public services for all," the city treasurer said.
The local government said that the city’s tax income came from real property tax, business taxes, and other taxes such as amusement, transfer, and contactors, among others.
Villanueva said that the city’s streamlining efforts which include the use of the online QC E-Services and the establishment of satellite offices for tax payment helped ease the processes.
He added that the mayor’s decision to allow staggered payment for underdeclared and undeclared business taxes instead of hefty penalties also encouraged the business owners to settle their dues.
According to the DOF-BLGF, the LSR are collections of local government units coming from real property tax, business taxes, other local taxes, regulatory fees, service and user charges, and receipts from economic enterprises.
It said that the certificates of recognition of the top three local government units per performance area, as well as the hall of fame awardees, will be awarded during its anniversary month celebration in October.