Starting January 1 Next Year, the 'Sobang Hoegye Beop' Enforced... Stable Securing of Firefighting Budget

Clarifying Revenue and Expenditure Standards... Flexible Operation of Revenue Item Ratios According to City and Province Financial Conditions

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The accounting classifications necessary for budgeting fire services will be standardized nationwide.

The National Fire Agency announced on the 9th that starting January 1 next year, it will implement the "Act on Fire Finance Support and Establishment of Special Fire Accounts in Cities and Provinces (Fire Accounting Act)" to ensure stable securing of fire resources and independent financial management.

The Fire Accounting Act establishes special fire accounts in the budgets of cities and provinces, clearly distinguishing income and expenditures into personnel expenses and fire policy project expenses according to the nature of the budget items.

Accordingly, personnel expenses will be funded by the Fire Safety Grant Tax (25% of the individual tobacco consumption tax), local resource facility tax related to fire revenue, and transfers from the general account (ordinary tax). Project expenses necessary for building fire stations or purchasing equipment will be funded by the Fire Safety Grant Tax (15% of the individual tobacco consumption tax), facility tax, national treasury subsidies, emergency medical funds, transfers from the general account (ordinary tax), and other fee revenues.

Considering the financial conditions of cities and provinces facing difficulties and to promote projects stably, the proportion of facility tax transferred to project expenses varies by city and province.

Special metropolitan cities, Gyeonggi-do, and Sejong Special Self-Governing City, which have relatively large facility tax scales, are required to invest more than 70% of the facility tax into project expenses; Daejeon and Gwangju Metropolitan Cities must invest more than 90%; and other provinces must invest 100% of the facility tax into project expenses. Any shortfall in project expenses must be supplemented by transfers of at least 0.5% from the general account (ordinary tax). Reflecting the increase rates of facility tax and ordinary tax over the past three years, the scale of project expenses is expected to increase by about 7% annually.

The Fire Accounting Act also grants authority and responsibility for managing fire finances in cities and provinces to the fire headquarters chief, strengthening independence and accountability. It allows for the establishment of a contingency fund amounting to 1% of the special fire account budget to prepare for emergency demands such as large-scale disasters.

Until now, city and provincial fire headquarters have faced difficulties securing project expenses needed for improving aging fire stations or reinforcing equipment depending on their financial conditions. There have also been disparities in the welfare levels of fire officers and the budget scale allocated for public services, raising concerns about unequal safety levels across regions.

Shin Yeol-woo, Commissioner of the National Fire Agency, stated, "To meet the heightened public expectations for fire services following the independence of the National Fire Agency and the nationalization of fire officers' status, securing stable fire finances must be a prerequisite. We will also establish new resource securing and financial support systems to strengthen the state's support and coordination roles."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.