THE city council has vowed that no new taxes will be legislated by the city council next year on account of the world-wide financial crisis which is expected to continue and may worsen next year.

Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez and Councilor Michael Fernandez gave their assurance in their joint press conference last week before the city council began its marathon hearings on the proposed 2009 Dagupan City budget.

Vice Mayor Fernandez, acting mayor since November 9 and until next week 22 said the people of Dagupan should not be burdened with new taxes nor increased rates of existing taxes.

Both officials said the city council may even look into the possibility of reducing current tax rates.

Councilor Fernandez said the ongoing budget hearings being conducted by the city council to review the budget proposals for every department, aiming to ensure that the scarce resources of the city would be spent efficiently on programs urgently needed by the public.

Identified as top priorities by the Fernandez administration that must be supported with adequate funding are education, nutrition, social welfare and livelihood.

The previous city administration, under Mayor Benjamin Lim, increased business taxes to raise funds pay for the amortization of loans that it obtained for the construction of the Malimgas Public Market and the purchase of a dredging machine.

The Malimgas Market has been in the red and continues to require a subsidy from government while the dredging machine has been idle for some period.

Vice Mayor Fernandez said the present administration will not venture into similar activities adopted by the past city administration which incurred the ire of even small sari-sari store owners after being slapped with higher rates.

At the same time, she said she will continue to help stimulate the business sector in Dagupan to help small entrepreneurs withstand the expected difficulties posed by the financial crisis.— LM

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