Democratic Party Goyang City Councilor Boycotts Budget Review... Mayor Lee Dong-hwan Warns "Citizen Harm Inevitable"

Next Year's Budget Bill Unapproved... Risk of 'All-Stop' for Livelihood Projects
Mayor Lee Dong-hwan Urges "Active Explanation of Expected Issues to City Council"
If Budget Bill Not Processed Within the Year, Transition to Semi-Budget System Inevitable

On the 21st, Lee Dong-hwan, Mayor of Goyang City, urged employees at the city executive meeting to "do their best to ensure that next year's main budget is passed within the year." [Goyang City]

[Asia Economy Reporter La Young-chul] Lee Dong-hwan, mayor of Goyang City, expressed concern that "if next year's main budget is not approved, it will be impossible to respond promptly to disasters, accidents, and incidents, which will increase inconvenience and damage to citizens."

On the 21st, Mayor Lee emphasized to public officials at the city executive meeting, "Please do your best to ensure that next year's main budget is passed within this year."

The mayor's remarks are interpreted as a warning that various policies for citizens are at risk of being halted due to delays in the budget review by the Goyang City Council for next year.

Earlier, the city submitted the 2023 main budget proposal to the city council on the 21st of last month as an agenda item for the 2nd regular session of the Goyang City Council. However, the city council expressed a 'boycott' stance on the budget review, leading to the suspension of livelihood-related projects.

Urgent disaster recovery contracts such as snow removal equipment services (4.5 billion KRW) and emergency road repairs (7.6 billion KRW), as well as maintenance of traffic facilities (4.7 billion KRW) and park management services (11.1 billion KRW), will face disruptions.

In particular, school free meal programs (30 billion KRW) and subsidies for educational institutions (18.6 billion KRW), which are discretionary under laws and ordinances, will be excluded from support.

Disaster response facility expenses such as road and sidewalk maintenance (11.6 billion KRW), drainage pump station facility maintenance (5 billion KRW), and bridge repair and reinforcement (4.3 billion KRW) cannot be executed.

Additionally, payments for youth job university student administrative experience programs (260 million KRW), autonomous crime prevention unit support (300 million KRW), and subsidies for private events such as the Gyeonggi-do Sports Festival (5.7 billion KRW) will also be suspended.

If the budget proposal submitted by the city is not passed within this year and is delayed, a transition to a provisional budget system seems inevitable. There are also plans to form a 'Provisional Budget Operation T/F' led by the first deputy mayor.

According to Article 146 of the Local Autonomy Act and Article 46 of the Local Finance Act, expenditures related to the maintenance and operation of institutions or facilities established by laws or ordinances, fulfillment of legally or ordinance-mandated spending obligations, and continuation of projects already approved in the budget can be executed.

Therefore, the city will begin reviewing the preparation of a provisional budget to minimize administrative gaps and ensure stable operation of public facilities. Approximately 81.1% of the requested 2.9963 trillion KRW budget for 2023 can be allocated as a provisional budget.

It was also reported that the city plans to actively respond by preparing department-level contingency plans and promoting public communication.

The mayor said, "Since citizens' safety is more important than ever after the Itaewon accident, please prioritize safety in administration," and urged, "Especially provide meticulous support to vulnerable groups such as elderly living alone and low-income households during winter."

The city’s view toward the city council is also unfavorable. Some public officials criticized, "Local councils have only learned the bad aspects of central politics and are harming citizens."

Citizens who heard about the budget review delay also voiced in unison, "The distorted opposition of the local council to the executive branch must be corrected first."

Meanwhile, last month during the mourning period for the Itaewon tragedy, Democratic Party-affiliated Goyang city council members protested with pickets at the airport against the mayor’s overseas business trip. This led to a verbal dispute with the mayor’s chief secretary, who requested the withdrawal of the protest.

When the Democratic Party council members demanded a direct apology from the chief secretary in the plenary session and were refused, it resulted in a refusal to attend the assembly, causing the budget and organizational reform proposals to fail in review.