Gwangju City's Special Grant Tax This Year 21.2 Billion Won... 4.9 Billion Won Increase Compared to Last Year

Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kang Gi-jung) secured 21.2 billion KRW in special grants this year. This is an increase of 4.9 billion KRW compared to last year, and it is interpreted as the result of actively stepping forward to secure special grants amid the ongoing unprecedented fiscal drought caused by record tax revenue shortfalls.

According to Gwangju City on the 6th, 15.2 billion KRW in special grants were secured for the regular allocation in the second half of this year.

Adding the 7 cases of regular demand in the first half, which secured 6 billion KRW in special grants, a total of 21.2 billion KRW in special grants have been secured this year.

Considering that the government’s special grant budget for this year decreased by 5.4% (11.66 billion KRW) from the previous year due to a record national tax shortfall (59.1 trillion KRW) caused by a decline in capital gains tax from the real estate market slump, Gwangju’s securing of a total of 21.2 billion KRW, a 30.1% (4.9 billion KRW) increase from last year, is a more precious and valuable achievement than ever before.

Unlike ordinary grants, special grants are funds allocated to cover changes in local fiscal conditions, disasters, and other unexpected financial demands. They are allocated after local governments apply and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety reviews and determines their use.

The special grants for the second half will be used for a total of 13 projects. By sector, 6 projects for local issue demands amounting to 7 billion KRW, and 7 projects for disaster and safety demands amounting to 8.2 billion KRW.

In particular, for local issue demands, 7 billion KRW was secured for ▲Improvement of traffic management in congestion sections of the 2nd Ring Road (Hakwoon IC) (1 billion KRW) ▲Road construction around Sinchangje (1.5 billion KRW) ▲Construction of Bonchon Industrial Complex Multipurpose Cultural Center (700 million KRW) ▲Establishment of Energy Industry Convergence Complex Comprehensive Support Center (1.5 billion KRW) ▲Construction of Agricultural Food Processing Startup Incubation Center (1.5 billion KRW) ▲Repair of aging facilities in Uchi Park (800 million KRW). For disaster and safety demands, 8.2 billion KRW was secured for ▲Slope reinforcement in Bonchon Industrial Complex (1.8 billion KRW) ▲Installation of brine spraying devices at Jangdeung Tunnel and Jangsu Intersection (1.7 billion KRW) ▲Anti-black ice pavement to prevent frequent freezing on Mujin-daero and other roads (1.4 billion KRW).

The traffic management improvement project for congestion sections of the 2nd Ring Road (Hakwoon IC) and the road construction around Sinchangje are expected to make significant progress in alleviating chronic traffic congestion and citizen inconvenience.

Additionally, projects such as anti-black ice pavement and installation of brine spraying devices to prevent slip accidents caused by winter snowfall have been included to enhance citizen safety.

Separate from the 15.2 billion KRW secured by the Gwangju City Hall, the amounts secured by autonomous districts are 1.2 billion KRW for Dong-gu, 1.6 billion KRW for Seo-gu, 1.6 billion KRW for Nam-gu, 2.6 billion KRW for Buk-gu, and 1.6 billion KRW for Gwangsan-gu, totaling 8.6 billion KRW.

Bae Il-kwon, Director of the Planning and Coordination Office, said, “With the amount secured from this special grant, we can now proceed with pending and disaster projects that could not be addressed due to Gwangju’s poor fiscal situation. We will continue to build a close cooperative system with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and actively secure special grants considering Gwangju’s fiscal conditions.”