Tax assessment in Bataan goes hi-tech

CITY of BALANGA, Bataan – In its desire to adopt a common platform in the assessment of one of the highest contributors to the local government unit’s income, probably next to the Internal Revenue Allocation (IRA) that comes from the national government, the Real Property Tax (RPT), the Provincial Assessor’s Office headed by Engr. Ricky Herrera spearheaded the Property Assessment and Tax Administration System (PATAS) users’ training held this morning at the Silver Room of Crown Royale Hotel, this City.

In attendance are the assessors and treasurers of the eleven municipalities of the province. The provincial and municipal assessors are in charge in the discovery, classification, appraisal, assessment and valuation of all real properties in the province, which serve as the basis for taxation and collection by the provincial and municipal treasurers.

This training is only the first of the 3-part flagship program of the Provincial Assessor’s Office; namely: computerization, tax mapping and general revision. Under computerization is the acquisition of the PATAS-GeoData. This system which costs almost Php 52M will establish a systematic method of appraisal, assessment and collection of real properties that will (1) facilitate the efficient processing of real property transactions (2) provide real time updating of real property payments (3) increase tax collection thru easy and accurate entry of payments and (4) improve the productivity of local government units.

Governor Albert S. Garcia, in his message expressed his gratitude to these “frontliners” in tax assessment and collection for continuously performing their jobs well. The Governor also mentioned the all out support of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan with Vice Governor Efren Pacual Jr. as the presiding officer by taking an active role in securing the economic well-being of the people of Bataan by filling fiscals gaps to provide an environment that is conducive for growth. In the end, the hardworking governor challenged the attendees to go beyond the traditional and primary role of being service providers and to achieve this, there is still much to be done.