More taxes seen from electric posts, meters

ILOILO CITY—The city government plans to collect more than P44 million in real property taxes accumulated since 2006 from the city’s sole power distributor, covering at least 10,000 electric posts and 54,000 electric meters.

The move was in line with a Supreme Court ruling in the case involving Manila Electric Co. and the Lucena City assessor and treasurer on Aug. 5, 2015, which declared that real property tax under the Local Government Code did not exempt “transformers, electric posts, transmission lines, insulators, and electric meters.”

City assessor Nelson Parreño said in an earlier statement that the ruling “is very favorable considering that it will generate more revenues for the city of Iloilo which will redound to the benefit of its constituents.”

Economic boom

The city’s economic boom has significantly raised power demand. This year, demand has increased from 5-7 megawatts (MW) to 100 MW.

In May, peak demand was 107 MW, Mikel Afzelius, corporate communications officer of Panay Electric Co. (Peco), the city’s power distributor, said in an interview. It is expected to increase by at least 5 MW next year.

Mitchell Gonzalez, assistant city assessor for operation, estimated the real property tax liability of Peco at P44.6 million, including debts since 2006 on the utility firm’s wooden, concrete and steel posts and electric meters but excluding transmission lines and other pieces of machinery.

The taxes could be offset by the income of Peco derived from payment of telecommunication companies for the use of its electric poles.