Para?aque City collected P1.92 billion in 2008 surpassing the 2007?s P1.75 million and 2006?s P1.61 billion.

Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr. said that the biggest contributor was business tax which posted 51.17 percent of the total revenues along with property taxes which turned in 47.36 percent.

?We posted a 9.4-percent growth which is not bad considering the fact that we are in a global financial crisis,? Bernabe said.

The surge in tax take collection followed fiscal reforms and can be attributed to fiscal reforms where computerization and networking of revenue-generating departments such as Business Permits and Licensing Office, Assessors Office, Real Property Tax, Budget, Treasury and Human Resource, weeded out tax cheats and got rid of fixers.

Also introduced were investment-friendly measures including the enactment of City Ordinance 014 series of 2007 which declared Para?aque part of the bay reclamation area as a Special Investment District granting tax holidays and incentives. Vito Barcelo