Goyang City to Overhaul Sewerage Fee System with Dedicated Task Force in Operation

Goyang City Takes Action to Address Citizen Inconvenience from Sudden Retroactive Charges
Full Commitment to Transparent Administration

Goyang Special City (Mayor Lee Donghwan) has formed a Sewerage Fee Retroactive Task Force (TF) to fairly impose previously uncharged sewerage fees and prevent financial leakage, officially launching the initiative.

Exterior view of Goyang Special City Hall. Provided by Goyang Special City

Starting with the distribution of advance notices in April, the city began imposing previously omitted sewerage fees in May, resulting in approximately 1,900 cases and a total of 2.7 billion KRW being charged.

Objections are being accepted until August 18, and the TF team is processing them swiftly and transparently, fully reflecting both citizens' perspectives and active legal review.

The operation of this TF team demonstrates Goyang City's strong commitment to listening to citizens' voices, resolving issues promptly, and completely overhauling the system to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future.

A city official explained, "During the objection period, we are focusing on minimizing the burden on citizens while ensuring fairness in the charges by recalculating the billing period according to move-in and move-out dates, checking for administrative errors, reviewing eligibility for fee reductions, and inspecting sewer connections."

In particular, Goyang City plans to finalize decisions on each objection by August 18, after completing legal reviews and deliberations by the Local Tax Review Committee, and will re-notify citizens within August.

Additionally, a resident briefing session will be held to transparently disclose all procedures, address citizens' questions, and reduce unnecessary conflicts.

A Goyang Special City official stated, "We apologize for the inconvenience caused to citizens by this incident," and added, "Through the TF team, we will identify the causes of omissions in the billing process, establish new manuals and inspection systems to improve accuracy, and revise relevant ordinances to strengthen the institutional foundation."

The official further emphasized, "This retroactive imposition of sewerage fees aims to charge all citizens fairly and enhance fiscal soundness. Centered on the TF team, we will minimize citizen inconvenience through transparent and prompt handling of civil complaints."

Meanwhile, the city announced that, based on this case, it will conduct a research study to improve the sewerage fee imposition and collection system, and will supplement the system in the mid- to long-term to enhance resident acceptance.