CAO implements innovations to improve service delivery
To help generate long-term revenue for the city government, the City Assessor’s Office (CAO) implemented innovative strategies, policies, and programs aimed at achieving fair, equitable, and uniform assessments of all real estate, as well as prompt, courteous, and professional service delivery.
With its three divisions, Acting City Assessors Rhea Acconie R. Apostol increased efforts to improve Records Management, Appraisal and Assessment, and Tax Mapping Operations. The City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) is completely reliant on the assessment of the City Assessor’s Office (CAO) for tax collection as a result of their appraisal activities. In an interview, in terms of the Office of the Building Official (OBO) Apostol stated that their collaboration is very important because all buildings being constructed, renovated, or demolished must pass through the CAO. “I just want the public to know that anyone involved in construction, building a house establishment, and all its machinery must report to the OBO in order for a permit to be issued.”
Meanwhile, Apostol said that, in accordance with the Data Privacy Act, the client must now follow a new set of policies in terms of Tax Declaration requirements, in which they must provide CAO with relevant personal information for security and information purposes. Apostol explained that if the CAO needs to contact the lot owner in order to issue notices, the staff will be able to do so easily. Further, Apostol stated unequivocally that the Tax Declaration is not proof of ownership and that only the title is proof of ownership.
Section 202 of the RA 7160, on the other hand, requires the submission of a Sworn Statement of the True and Current and Fair Market Value of Real Property Declaration. Apostol emphasized that it is the responsibility of each property owner to declare in the CAO their personal assessment of their property’s true and current fair market value. She stated unequivocally that the widely held belief among landowners that the aforementioned declaration will be used by CAO as the basis for taxes is unfounded. She emphasized that the benefit to the owner is that they will have knowledge of the current market value, which will allow them to increase the price and avoid the late filing fee, which is ½ of 1% of the assessed value. According to the law, once a property is acquired, the owner has only 60 days to declare it to the CAO and other relevant agencies such as ROD.
Apostol, on the other hand, explained that the city government was mandated to collect taxes on Idle land in order to discourage property owners who were unable to develop their property so that the land in the neighborhood could be put to better use and improvements could be initiated. It discourages land banking as well. Apostol emphasized that those lands should be used in order to be fair to the government. According to city ordinance, idle land is defined as more than one hectare that is not used.
Apostol also led the way in maximizing the use of the Geographic Information System (GIS) for the CAO to see the perspective of a specific property through a map; while not in real time, the GIS is a useful tool for the CAO to issue a certificate of no improvement.
The office is currently working on improving their record management, which has come a long way. The CAO is currently working to improve the Real Property Archive System (RPAS). The RFAS contains scanned copies of all documents and attachments in the ROD that were submitted during the property transfer.
When asked about her overall vision for the City Assessor’s Office, she said that it is a balanced vision of where the city government wants to go and that it must consider two factors: the welfare of the client and the welfare of the LGU. Since increasing Real Property taxes is part of their mandate, she emphasizes that if the city government is collecting large taxes, there should be fairness and equality. “…convenient and security where every property owner in Koronadal will feel secure that their property can be guarded and they will be at peace that their property documents are systematized”, Apostol stressed.
The City Assessors Office (CAO) is also working to achieve its long-term goal of having every property owner in the City of Koronadal be able to check their property-related documents online for easy access without compromising security by leveraging the CAO’s digitalization efforts.