Sejong to Reduce Private Sector Road Occupancy Fees by Up to 50%

[Asia Economy (Sejong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Sejong City announced on the 10th that it will reduce the regular road occupancy fees payable by private businesses and individuals by up to 50% this year.

Road occupancy fees are charges that must be paid when using a part of a public road, such as for access to commercial buildings, with permission.

However, considering the increasing burden of road occupancy fees on private businesses and individuals due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the city decided to implement a reduction measure. Public institutions and local public enterprises are excluded from the reduction.

The reduction is applied by charging 25% less for last year's fees if not previously reduced, and 25% less for this year's fees respectively, while those who received a reduction last year or are being charged for the first time this year will receive a 25% reduction.

There is no separate application process for eligible recipients; the reduction will be uniformly applied to this year's regular road occupancy fees. Bills will be issued from mid-month, and refund procedures will begin in July for those who have already paid and are eligible for the reduction.

The city expects that the road occupancy fee reduction policy will ease the burden by 630 million KRW (1,362 cases) out of the total annual road occupancy fees amounting to 1.75 billion KRW (1,520 cases).

Woo Jeong-hoon, head of the city's Road Division, said, “The reduction of road occupancy fees is being promoted to reduce the burden on small business owners and citizens struggling due to COVID-19,” and added, “Reductions for road occupancy fees in charge of the responsible eup and dong will be separately promoted in Jochiwon-eup and Areum-dong, respectively.”