LGU Budget Down To ₱820 Billion For 2023

The budget allocation for local government units (LGUs) in 2023 will be lowered by 14% to ₱ 820 billion from a ₱ 959 billion budget last year.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) released a budget memorandum with the final guidelines for the 2023 national tax allotment (NTA) shares of LGUs for 2023.

Despite the national budget amounting to ₱ 5.268 trillion in 2023, LGUs will get a lower share since the NTA was based on the 2020 revenue collection which significantly declined due to the pandemic.

The DBM measured the NTA based on the revenue collection of LGUs in 2020. Government revenues in that year declined by 9% due to quarantine restrictions that halted business operations.

“It is understood that the effect of the final 2023 NTA shares of LGUs will necessitate the prioritization in the implementation of items of appropriations by the LGUs,” the DBM said.

By level, municipalities will take the largest share in the NTA at ₱ 278.09 billion, followed by cities at ₱ 189.46 billion. Provinces will receive ₱ 188.66 billion, while the smallest percentage of ₱ 164.05 billion will be allotted to barangays.

The Philippines has 83 provinces, 148 cities, 1,486 municipalities, and 41,953 barangays.

The enactment and approval of various laws will include 18 barangays in Quezon City, Cotabato, Iligan City, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Palawan, Negros Occidental, Davao del Norte, and Occidental Mindoro in the allocation of the 2023 NTA.

The NTA is still part of the Supreme Court ruling that increased the shares in national tax collections of LGUs. 

Following the Mandanas implementation, LGU shares will not only come from taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), but their NTA shares will also come from 40% of all national taxes collected by the BIR and Bureau of Customs.

Source: Philstar