BAGUIO CITY: City officials authorized the annual budget of the local government for the calendar year 2023 amounting to P2,423,781,609.00 covering the various expenditures for the operation of the city.

Further, Ordinance 82, Series of 2022, appropriated the necessary funds for the said purpose of ensuring the delivery of basic services and the implementation of priority programs, projects and activities.

The 2023 annual budget is around 4.9 percent or P114 million higher than the P2.309 billion budget of the local government last year.

Among the sources of revenue of the local government to fund the annual budget include a beginning balance of P110 million; local internal sources which are composed of tax revenue and nontax revenue, P943,787,000.00; and external sources which include shares from national tax allotment, share from economic zones and share from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, P1,369,994,609.00.

Compared to last year, there is a decrease of 197 million or 14 percent in this year's share from the national tax allotment primarily due to the lower national government revenue collections in 2020 on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, the P197 million reduction in the city's share from the national tax allocation was somehow mitigated by the P110 million beginning balance from the estimated 2022 project savings at the end of the year.

Under the approved 2023 annual budget, expenditures for maintenance and other operating expenses accounted for the bulk of the funds with P1,032,093,000.00 followed by personnel services, P898,316,000.00; expenses for the 20 percent local development fund, P238,399,000.00; capital outlay, 130,708,609.00; and the local disaster risk reduction and management fund, P114,265,000.00.

On expenditures by sector, projects, programs, and activities for the general public service accounted for the largest allocation with P946,513,609.00 followed by social services, P737,221,000.00; economic services, P723,647,000.00; and other services, P6,400,000.00.