Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año recently signed Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) 2019-01 providing the guidelines in setting the rates for regulatory fees and other service charges imposed by LGUs. The joint circular, which takes effect immediately, applies to all fees and charges imposed by LGUs rendering services to the public. These include business permits, mayor’s permits and barangay clearances, toll fees, and billboard fees, among others. Under the circular, the DOF, through the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF), is mandated to issue guidelines through a local fees and charges (LFC) toolkit, which will identify the direct fixed cost and variable costs of rendering services. Every local chief executive is advised to issue an executive order creating an oversight committee, which will review, gather data and compute the appropriate fees and charges based on the LFC toolkit.

Source: Philippine Star July 22, 2019 16:00 UTC