CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – For three consecutive years from 2010 to 2012, the local government unit (LGU) of the Province of Pampanga scored “very good” in the Department of Finance’s (DOF) fiscal performance assessment.
Pampanga’s fiscal performance was posted on the DOF website dubbed “Iskor ng ‘yong Bayan,” which, the DOF said, is aimed at promoting governance at all levels by rating the fiscal performances of all LGUs through the LGU fiscal sustainability scorecard.
According to the DOF, Pampanga’s overall revenue generation capacity, as a 1st Income Class province, consistently improved, thus attaining a very good rating in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, mainly due to its strong locally sourced income (consistently posting double- digit growths) and reduced dependence on the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).
Specifically, tax revenue collections surged by 136 percent in FY2011 and further rose to 34 percent in FY2012 (despite the decline in real property tax [RPT] collections during the same period), while nontax revenues jumped by 102 percent in FY2010. On expenditure management, the provincial total expenditure per capita more than doubled from FY2010 (P399) to FY2012 (P812), though still considered very low among provinces.
In determining compliance to statutory limitations on expenditures and budget management, it was noted that the province utilized less than 20 percent of the IRA for local development projects with less than 1 percent, 7.7 percent and 15.8 percent utilization in FYs 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively.
To its credit, the province had no reported debt servicing expenditures from FY2010 to FY2012. On expenditures for Personal Services (PS), the province like most LGUs, exceeded in FY2011 and FY2012 the PS limitations set forth under Sec. 325a of the LGC, as indicated in Statement of Receipts and Expenditures (SRE) reports for the aforementioned period.
The total expenditures for PS in FY2011 reached P640,560,340, which accounted for 52.5 percent of the annual regular income of P1,220,450,910 realized in FY2009. This improved though for FY2012: the total expenditures for PS in FY2012 reached Php 662,053,177 , which accounted for 48.1 percent of the annual regular income Php1,375,194,443 realized in FY2010.
The SRE is the Official Reporting System on Local Government Fiscal and Financial Operations which is contained in Department Order No. 8 -2011 of the DOF. The DOF, which based its ratings on its evaluation of the LGUs revenue generation capacity, local collection growth, expenditure management and reportorial compliance, said its preliminary fiscal assessment for Pampanga is “impressive.”
The provincial government, in the three years covered by the fiscal assessment, had Governor Lilia “Nanay Baby” Pineda and former Vice-Governor Joseller “Yeng” Guiao at the helm. LGU performance scorecards for fiscal sustainability is aimed to promote transparency and good governance at all levels, the DOF-Bureau of Local Government Finance (DOFBLGF) is rolling out the LGU Fiscal Sustainability Scorecard as a regular fiscal and financial management performance assessment of all LGUs.
This scorecard is published online via “Iskor ng ‘yong Bayan (http:// iskor.blgf.gov.ph).” The LGU Fiscal Sustainability Scorecard, developed through the Department’s Fiscal Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the BLGF, takes into account key results areas of local revenue generation capacity, local collection growth, expenditure management, updating of Schedule of Market Values, and reportorial compliance of treasurers and assessors with the DOF and BLGF. This is in line with DOF’s mandate to supervise andmonitor the revenue operations of LGUs.
