Property owners will pay the same level of taxes this year after Governor Joseph C. Cua approved an ordinance passed by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan that defers the implementation of higher market values until the end of 2025.
Capitol sources said that last week, the chief executive finally signed Resolution No. 579-2024 enacting Provincial Ordinance No. 031-2023 extending the suspension of the new real property market values until Dec. 31, 2025.
Sponsored by Provincial Board Members Josevan A. Balidoy and Jose Romeo Francisco, the ordinance was initially based on the request of the Provincial Assessors Office and the League of Government Assessors of Catanduanes, Inc.
The SP led by Vice Governor Peter C. Cua also took cognizance of the taxpayers’ plight to free them from the burden brought by the effects of the pandemic, lesser abaca production due to disease, low demand in the world market and damage wrought by recent tropical cyclones.
This is not the first time that the legislative body has resorted to the deferment of the tax measure, records will show.
In 2018, it passed an ordinance suspending the implementation of the schedule of market values of real properties supposed to be used as basis for the General Revision of 2017.
In the next four years or until 2023, the SP again extended the suspension but it passed and enacted Provincial Ordinance No. 006-2024 approving the Revised Schedule of Market Values of Real Properties in the province of Catanduanes. This measure was reportedly published last June 2024.
The updated schedule of market values, it stated, will serve as the basis for appraisal and assessment of real properties in the respective assessment territorial jurisdictions and will be used as the basis for local and national land and property-related taxes.
However, last July 2024, the Acting Provincial Treasurer requested the enactment of an ordinance adopting the provisions of the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act (RPVARA) for a two-year Real Property Tax Amnesty on Penalties.
In addition, the League of Government Assessors in Catanduanes, Inc. passed a resolution dated Oct. 28, 2024 requesting the deferment of the effectivity of the General Revision from CY 2025 to CY 2026 and the extension of the 2013 Schedule of Market Values until Dec. 31, 2025 as basis for the collection of real property tax for CY 2025.
In a separate letter to Vice Gov. Cua, San Andres Municipal Assessor Rosemarie Solano-Zafe rued that Provincial Ordinance No. 006-2024 should have been published last February 2024 to give assessors ample time to finish the General Revision and distribute the Notice of Assessments to property owners not later than Sept. 31, 2024 as required by law.
She pointed out that the revision for the second largest town with over 21,000 real property units (RPUs) will require more than a year to complete based on actual experience in past revisions.
The assessor also disclosed that the eTRACS server of the municipality broke down due to wear and tear as well as technical issues and that there are likewise unsettled issues on specific data that needs to appear in the Tax Declarations for uniform implementation in the province particularly on classification and actual use.
There is also the need to comply with the audit observation that the Provincial Assessor for the past years has overlooked the correct Barangay Index Number that should be implemented in all municipalities, which would entail so much time to correct, Solano-Zafe stressed.
“To revise 21,000 RPUs in a span of two months is a no-no, suntok sa buwan,” she remarked, as there is no guarantee that the assessments and data would be correct if the revision is done by batch.
“We need to have it cleaned in preparation for the forthcoming General Revision as mandated by RPVARA wherein CY 2026 is the year for data collection, CY 2027 is for preparation, submission, approval and publication of SMVs, CY 2028 is Revision Year, and its effectivity is CY 2029,” the San Andres assessor stated.