Unified Changwon City Financial Incentive Additional Support Bill Passed by National Assembly... Will Receive 44 Billion Won for 5 More Years

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Saeyan] The special financial support for the integrated Changwon City, which was scheduled to end this year, will be extended for another five years.

On the 1st, the National Assembly held a plenary session and passed the "Amendment to the Local Autonomy Decentralization Act and the Special Act on the Reorganization of the Local Administrative System," which was introduced by Park Wansu, a member of the People Power Party representing Changwon Uichang, Gyeongnam.

With the passage of the bill, Changwon City will receive an additional 44 billion KRW in integrated financial incentives over five years: 14.6 billion KRW in 2021, 12.2 billion KRW in 2022, 9.8 billion KRW in 2023, 4.9 billion KRW in 2024, and 2.4 billion KRW in 2025.

In July 2010, the existing cities of Changwon, Masan, and Jinhae merged to form the integrated Changwon City. At that time, the government encouraged the integration of cities and counties by granting financial special cases to the integrated Changwon City based on the Local Autonomy Decentralization Act.

Article 35 of the Local Autonomy Decentralization Act stipulates that "for 10 years, an additional amount equivalent to 6% of the total local government grant tax of each local government abolished in the year prior to the establishment of the local government shall be annually provided to the integrated local government as prescribed by Presidential Decree."

According to this regulation, the government annually sent 14.6 billion KRW to Changwon City, which is 6% of the total grant tax of 244.4 billion KRW that Changwon, Masan, and Jinhae received in 2009.

Changwon City invested this budget in urban planning facilities and other projects to promote balanced development in the Changwon, Masan, and Jinhae areas. However, the special grant tax support of 146 billion KRW received over 10 years since the year following the integration will end this year.

Unless the Local Autonomy Decentralization Act is amended, the special grant tax support was set to be discontinued from next year.

Changwon City emphasized that the extension of the financial special case was made possible through Mayor Heo’s meetings with National Assembly member Park Wansu, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Minister Jin Young, as well as continuous appeals to Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party, and members of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee regarding the necessity of extending Changwon City’s financial incentives.

Mayor Heo stated, “The budget additionally supported over the next five years through the extension of the integrated city’s financial incentives, which was hard to secure, will be invested in meaningful projects related to the balanced development of the integrated city.”