The city government collected an average of ₱40,333 a day in the first three days in the implementation of the parking fee ordinance.
“For the first three days of operation, we already collected P121,000. More or less, we reached our target as far as the seven designated pay parking zones are concerned,” said City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) officer-in-charge Atty. Lawrence Bantiding.
Bantiding said they are expecting to collect at least P50,000 per day starting yesterday as regular works and classes started in most offices and schools after the holiday seasons.
He said some collectors raised at least P54,000 a day during the initial implementation.
The city detailed 82 traffic enforcers from the City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) and 14 CTO personnel to issue receipts at the parking zones.
“We put some of our personnel there so that motorists and drivers can pay directly to them, and they don’t need to go to our offices anymore,” Bantiding said.
He said the enforcers are trained to educate those who are unaware of the existing traffic ordinance.
“CTTMO has already conducted seminars and have conducted briefings and orientation regarding to what they will do in certain instances,” he added.
Several drivers refused to pay for lack of information of the newly-implemented seven-year-old ordinance.
Those who contest the collection, Bantiding said, are requested to visit the CTTMO.
Meanwhile, the city government also collected more than P18 million in the first three days of the annual renewal of business permits, Bantiding revealed.
In the sidelines of yesterday’s flag raising ceremony, Bantiding bared that they target P2 billion for this year’s business renewal fee collection.
The city treasurer said this year’s target is “a bit higher” than last year. He, however, did not revealed last year’s target amount.
Bantiding admitted that the first few day collection this year was lower compared to last year.
“The influx of people during the first few days (last year) was a bit higher than now, probably because last year we started the permits renewal on a Monday,” he said. “This year, we started on Thursday, January 2, and that can be one of the factors, that’s understandable.”
“Some tax payers have decided to go on Monday since it was sort of a start of an official business day. Some may be waiting for Monday to come that’s why there were lesser people during the first days of the renewal,” he said.
