THE Mandaue City Government is eyeing a 20 percent discount on real property taxes on buildings this year as part of efforts to increase tax collection.Lawyer Regal Oliva, the Mandaue City treasurer, said Mayor Jonas Cortes and the City Council want to give the 20 percent discount considering that many properties were destroyed or damaged by Typhoon Odette in December 2021.“We advise real property owners not to pay yet their taxes because we are working on a 20 percent discount for real property tax on buildings,” he said.Oliva said this is the reason the City’s real property tax collection slightly decreased this year.Oliva said they still need to meet their target collection to fund the City’s 2022 budget of around P2.6 billion. That is why they want to increase the real property tax collection by March 31.In February, the City has collected about P580 million in business taxes, community taxes, real property taxes and other taxes and fees.Oliva said, though, that he is confident the City will surpass its target collection and may even be able to reach P3 billion this year.Citing businesses as the bread and butter of Mandaue City, the city treasurer said they noted an increase of around P189 million from business taxes alone in the first month of 2022 compared to January last year.With the easing of restrictions related to Covid-19, Oliva said they are hoping that more businesses will open in the city, adding that the City’s tax collection has been affected by the closure of some businesses during the pandemic.From around 14,000 establishments before the start of the pandemic in March 2020, Oliva said only around 12,000 businesses have renewed their business permits this year.“It’s hard for us to see businesses close and it’s hard also for us to see the businesses moving somewhere else. That’s why we want Mandaue to have an image that were are always business-friendly,” he added.