Best Practice 2018 Kalibo.docx

Republic of the Philippines Province of Aklan

Ati-Atihan Town of Kalibo OFFICE OF THE MUNICIPAL TREASURER

BEST PRACTICES CY 2017

I.

Title of Projects/Activity

Municipal Treasurer’s Office of Kalibo Bi-Annual Performance Review as a Revenue Generation Strategy. II.

Description of the Approach/Technology

As LGU Kalibo prepares itself to be one of the country's most competitive municipalities, it bears in mind that in order to achieve inclusive growth, we must focus on economic growth which is necessary and crucial condition for poverty reduction. We aim for a sustainable growth that our strategies are tailored-fit to our specific needs and productive employment. Inclusive growth is fueled by market-driven sources of growth with government playing a facilitating role. Henceforth, creating a culture that promotes reviewing and improving performance will help an organization grow a strong and effective governance. Approaching performance review discussions positively and productively is an important step in building our department personnel’s confidence in the process. As such, scheduled review and planning sessions twice a year is needed to strengthen the team’s performance. Maintaining an annual schedule for formal performance review sessions will encourage each revenue generating units to view performance reviews as part of normal, healthy organization function. Therefore, the Municipality of Kalibo in its desire to improve and sustain its revenue generation potentials has introduced the approach of conducting a bi-annual performance review to help the management assess its performance vis-à-vis the revenue targets and the effectiveness of its planning workshops.

Is the approach or technology used an entirely new or pioneering application in the area? The approach is new and pioneering because no other LGU in the province is implementing the same. It is also noted that the usual approach is for the Municipal Treasurer to routinely monitor collection as they were collected daily. No interventions were introduced on how field collecting officer will be conduct the collections and even they were not are of the target they need to achieve for the whole year.

How was it carried out? a. High Impact and Sustainability and its Replicability It has been almost four years since CY 2015 that the Municipality of Kalibo included in our revenue generation program the conduct of the bi-annual performance review. Since its inception in 2015, LGU Kalibo revenue generation program has been very successful as evidenced by the increased in collection of taxes, fees and charges.

The Municipal Economic Enterprise Department Office (MEEDO) created in 2010 with primary purpose of helping the LGU generate bigger revenue turned-out to be dependent to the General Fund which is contrary to the very purpose of its creation. The General Fund has been bankrolling the operation of the Economic Enterprise at a rate of more or less Eight (8) Million per year to continue its operation. MEEDO annual income cannot cope up with its personnel services requirement thus the subsidy. The Revenue Generation Program of LGU Kalibo spearheaded by the Office of the Municipal Treasurer in cooperation with the Local Finance Committee has been innovating strategies to address current issues and concerns that has been ever changing every year. Kalibo being the capital town of the Province of Aklan is poised to become a City in due time and development in terms of infrastructures and its economic activity is very apparent and inevitable that it has to evolved and keep abreast with the industry growth. Since 2015, LGU Kalibo included in its annual appropriation the budgetary requirement for the conduct of the bi-annual performance target workshops as well as the acknowledged requests to be able to maximize its performance.

The program also supports and aligns to the Sustainable Development Goals by: a. b. c. d. e.

Alleviating sustainable cities and communities; Industry, innovation and infrastructure; Decent Work and Economic Growth; Hunger; Poverty, among others.

Likewise, in line with Philippine Development Plan Strategic Outcomes, LGU Kalibo prioritizes to achieve a responsible, strategic and supportive fiscal sector in order to improve its revenue and be able to provide adequate resources for development of all sectors. The strong Public Financial Management System specifically aims to reduce inequality thereby increasing growth potential of the LGU. Expansion of economic opportunities will lay down the very foundation for inclusive growth, a high-thrust and resilient society and an LGU that has globally competitive knowledge economy that is strong, sustainable and resilient. The innovation in information technology stimulates effective and efficient implementation of strategic trade and fiscal policies, maintain macroeconomic stability and promote healthy competition. Amongst the thrust of the LGU is to ensure peoplecentered, clean and efficient governance that aligns with the national government thrust to: a. Ensure people - centered, clean, and efficient governance; b. Accelerate human capital development; c. Ensure peace and security; d. Accelerate strategic infrastructure development; e. Ensure safety and build resilience; f. Ensure ecological integrity, clean & healthy environment; g. Investing in the Right Priorities. On its replicability, the strategy is very simple and can be implemented in a very short time. A project proposal is needed with the detailed program implementation and budgetary requirements is needed. Since it is being conduct on a bi-annual basis, the workshop is being held every six months. III.

Situation Prior to the Intervention 

How were things done before the approach / technology was applied? Before the intervention, the Municipality of Kalibo usually monitors the collection monthly and prepares report of the monthly collection performance. There were no evidence of interventions made on how to improve the collection efficiency as well as other supports that could help in improving collections.

IV.

Results of the Intervention 

What are specific outputs of the project/activity?

The increase in revenue since 2015 to the present is very significant in the assessment of the program implementation. Records clearly shows that there is an apparent increase in revenue in all income items after the strategy was introduced. The MEEDO which has been heavily subsidized by the General Fund was able to regain its stability and liquidity that started to change its direction in 2016 and significantly improved in 2017, respectively. The annual recognition of Outstanding Taxpayers both in Business and Real Property has been consistently carried out yearly and bestowed during the Foundation Day of Kalibo in November 3. Further, in order to fully equip its field collecting personnel the appropriate skills and knowledge in the collection of revenues, parallel trainings were conducted like examination of books of accounts, business tax, fees and charges computations workshops, benchmarking with other LGUs, among others. Because of the implementation of the effective and efficient management of revenues, LGU Kalibo earned the recognition from the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry as the Most Business Friendly Municipality in the First to Third Class Category in 2015 and 2016 all over the country. 

What effects/impact were generated by the project/ activity?

The main objective of the intervention is to improve revenue generation and be able to sustain high collection efficiency to support the programs and projects of LU Kalibo. It is our belief that the higher the collection performance the bigger and better projects and services is being offered by the LGU to its constituents. The main thrust of generating revenue is to address the emerging gap between LGU and its citizens. Among the gaps identified are in the social services sector, thereby concerns in this sector is also being prioritized. One notable project implemented due to the surpluses in the revenue that we collected is the construction of a Hanging Bridge that connects the island Barangay of Bakhao Norte to the mainland Kalibo. The cost of construction was derived mainly from the surpluses generated by the LGU.

V.

Lessons Learned and Recommendations What were the success factors of the approach/technology (environment, external assistance, stakeholder support, implementers, works ethics, etc.)?

The public in general is involved in the program, in order that the public can participate actively in our revenue generation program, annually LGU Kalibo holds the Annual Business Forum inviting different stakeholders on Kalibo to participate and take part in how LGU Kalibo operates its corporate and proprietary functions. Through the conduct of the Forum, stakeholders and ordinary citizens of Kalibo can participate and get involved in making Kalibo a much better place to live in. The annual Business Forum embraces the issues and concerns of our taxpayers as well as business community and provide a venue that directly connects them to the Executive and Legislative Departments of the LGU. The discourse solicits better understanding between the government and the people, thus, better and workable legislations are being passed as well as zeroing in to the most important needs of the people in the implementation of development programs and projects of the LGU. Moreover, the activity stimulates peoples’ participation through awareness and information dissemination. What are the areas for improvement? Some areas for improvement that will further improve the effectiveness of the program is to institutionalize the project and the necessary funding allocation will appropriated in a yearly basis to ensure its implementation every year. Furthermore, other revenue generating offices must also take part in the improvement of their revenue collection by taking part in the bi-annual What are its replications potentials? The approach can be easily replicated by other LGU’s since its very simple and conventional. LGUs can always adapt the strategy since it is very basic.

Submitted by:

REY C. VILLARUEL Municipal Treasurer