Five Years After Transition to National Fire Service Employment... Local Governments Still Shoulder Salary Costs

Despite Increase in National Funding, Share Remains in the 8% Range
Research Service: "Strengthen National Support to Make Responsibility Substantive
Structure Relying on Tobacco Tax Must Also Change"

The proportion of the national budget allocated to firefighters' salaries remains low. As five years have passed since the full transition to national employment, there are increasing calls for practical measures to strengthen the state's responsibility.

According to the National Assembly Research Service's report, "Has the Purpose of the Transition to National Fire Service Employment Been Achieved?" released on the 19th, the share of the national budget in the fire service budget has remained around 10% even after the transition to national employment. The proportion of national funding rose briefly from 7% in 2019 to 11.5% in 2020 and 14.9% in 2021 after the transition, but then declined to 12.3% in 2022 and dropped back to the 10% range in 2024. Furthermore, while the fire service budget increased 1.5 times from approximately 5.5065 trillion won in 2019 to 8.1478 trillion won last year, the national funding for the fire service budget last year amounted to only 869.6 billion won, accounting for 10.7%.

Yonhap News Agency

In particular, most of the salary expenses are still borne by local governments. Last year, the budget allocated for salaries from the Fire Safety Subsidy Tax (a national tax) was 547.6 billion won, which represents only 8.6% of the total fire service salary budget. According to data submitted by the National Fire Agency to the office of Assemblywoman Lee Dalhee of the People Power Party last year, the national funding rate for firefighters' salaries rose from 9.5% in 2020 to 13.6% in 2021, but has since steadily declined. The report stated, "To make the state's responsibility more substantive, it is necessary to strengthen the system of supporting salaries with the national budget, and the fiscal capacity secured by easing the burden on local governments should be invested in replacing outdated equipment and modernizing fire stations."

The instability of the national tax source for firefighters' salaries was also pointed out as a limitation. The Fire Safety Subsidy Tax is funded by 45% of the tobacco consumption tax. The report noted, "Given the ongoing anti-smoking policies, the current structure of the Fire Safety Subsidy Tax, which relies entirely on the tobacco consumption tax, is inherently unstable," and added, "It is necessary to seek fundamental measures to secure funding for the fire service sector, such as imposing levies on fire insurance payments or establishing a fire service development fund."