Prime Minister and Minister Awards for Non-Tax Revenue and Budget Savings
Incentive: Secured 250 Million Won in Local Allocation Tax
Gwangju City received both the Prime Minister's Award and the Minister of the Interior and Safety Award at the 17th Korea Local Finance Awards 2024, hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, held at the Government Sejong Complex Auditorium on the 19th. Photo by Gwangju City
Gwangju City announced on the 20th that it achieved the remarkable feat of winning both the Prime Minister’s Award and the Minister of the Interior and Safety Award at the “17th Korea Local Finance Awards 2024” hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, held at the Government Sejong Complex Grand Auditorium on the 19th.
The “Korea Local Finance Awards” is the most prestigious competition in the field of local finance, held annually since 2008 to discover and share best practices in sound local financial management, expenditure efficiency, and revenue enhancement among local governments.
The city received high marks for its multifaceted efforts to enhance fiscal soundness despite challenging financial conditions, such as expanding non-tax revenue and operating fiscal strategy meetings.
It is highly unusual for a single local government to receive two awards simultaneously. As a special benefit, the city secured 250 million KRW in local allocation tax incentives.
Gwangju City won the Prime Minister’s Award in the non-tax revenue category with a case from the Audit Committee. The city inspected 983 agricultural corporations registered in the region for illegal activities such as real estate speculation using farmland, imposing 11.6 billion KRW in acquisition taxes and penalties. This case involved identifying abuses where agricultural corporations, which are exceptionally allowed to acquire farmland and receive local tax reductions, exploited these benefits, thereby curbing real estate speculation and contributing to increased non-tax revenue.
In the budget saving category, the city received the Minister of the Interior and Safety Award for a case submitted by the Budget Office.
To overcome difficult financial conditions, the city established the Fiscal Innovation Division during its organizational restructuring in July and developed a fiscal soundness plan for 16 tasks across four major areas, earning recognition for its efforts to strengthen fiscal health. In particular, the operation of fiscal strategy meetings to set basic directions for fiscal management, prioritize investment in key projects, and the continuous operation of an internal proposal system to identify inefficient budgets were evaluated as exemplary cases that could be shared with other local governments.
Lee Byungchul, Director of Planning and Coordination, stated, “The local financial crisis is worsening due to ongoing economic uncertainty and a downturn in the real estate market both domestically and internationally,” adding, “We will overcome the current crisis through continuous expenditure restructuring and efficient, innovative fiscal management.”
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