Press Conference at Daejeon City Council... Demand for Disclosure of Usage Fee Calculation Method and Appraisal Details
The Emergency Countermeasures Committee of Daejeon Jungang-ro Underground Shopping Center held a press conference in the lobby of the Daejeon City Council on the afternoon of the 20th, urging the Daejeon City government to stop competitive bidding. / Daejeon=Photo by Park Jong-myeong
As the usage period of Daejeon Jungang-ro Underground Shopping Center expires, Daejeon City and merchants are disputing over the method of calculating usage fees, while the Jungang-ro Underground Shopping Center Emergency Countermeasures Committee urged Daejeon City on the 20th to stop competitive bidding.
At a press conference held in the lobby of the Daejeon City Council that afternoon, the committee pointed out, "Daejeon City's claim that there is a total standard market value for the building but no individual standard market value for each store, and no individual publicly announced land price for the land, means that the claim of having conducted an appraisal is merely a post hoc rationale."
They continued, "An appraisal should be an evaluation to determine the assessed price, and an appraisal conducted directly to calculate usage fees is an illegal method," adding, "If Daejeon City had lawfully applied the Public Property Management Act, simply disclosing the method of calculating usage fees and the appraisal details would resolve the issue easily, so why are they not releasing the data?"
They also emphasized, "The reason merchants have endured the burden of labor costs, repair and maintenance costs, security and cleaning expenses, and other costs necessary for management, including those that should have been supported by Daejeon City, for the past 30 years is because of the assurance of an extended contract allowing continued operation."
Furthermore, they pointed out, "The reason Daejeon City is pushing for the highest bid auction is likely to maximize revenue through the highest bid, thereby increasing city tax revenue and guaranteeing profits for the Facilities Corporation."
Regarding the issue of subleasing, they stated, "For stores suspected of illegal subleasing practices that have been habitually conducted even after the donation and acceptance usage period, it is reasonable to set a certain period for consensual resolution, and if unresolved after that period, to handle the matter according to the law," criticizing, "Daejeon City's approach to solving the problem solely through competitive bidding rather than a practical resolution of subleasing is like burning down the thatched cottage while trying to catch a flea."
The committee urged, "If the Facilities Corporation takes over and pushes through the highest competitive bidding, the excessive rent increase will make it difficult to expect price competitiveness that has been maintained so far," and called on Daejeon City to stop competitive bidding and actively accept alternative proposals for coexistence.
Daejeon City decided to select store usage permit holders through a general (competitive) bidding in May as the 30-year usage period of Jungang-ro Underground Shopping Center ends on July 5, and to have the Facilities Management Corporation manage and operate it from July 6.
The city’s position is that the calculation of usage fees should reflect each store’s accessibility, convenience facilities, and business conditions by calculating building appraisal value plus land appraisal value; however, the Jungang-ro Underground Shopping Center is only notified with one building standard market value of 5.7 billion KRW, lacking the land standard market value necessary for usage fee calculation, and unable to consider price differences among the 601 individual stores, making it impossible to calculate usage fees for each store.
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