Yang Il-ok, Buk-gu Council Member, Urges Adjustment of Tax Collection Grant Disbursement Rate

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yuk-bong] Yang Il-ok, a member of the Buk-gu Council of Gwangju Metropolitan City (Unam 1, 2, 3, Dongnim-dong), submitted the “Proposal to Urge Improvement of the Local Tax Collection Grant Rate” to secure autonomous financial authority and strengthen local autonomy, which was adopted at the 3rd plenary session of the 2nd regular meeting of the 266th Buk-gu Council.

In the proposal, Councilor Yang stated, “Considering the poor financial situation of autonomous districts, it is essential to secure autonomous financial authority for sound financial management and strengthening local autonomy,” urging an adjustment of the local tax collection grant rate.

The growth rate of local tax collection in Gwangju Metropolitan City increased more than 4.5 times from 380.4 billion KRW in 1998 to 1.7351 trillion KRW in 2019, but the grant rate to autonomous districts has remained unchanged at 3% for over 30 years.

Accordingly, Councilor Yang requested the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Gwangju Metropolitan City to raise the local tax collection grant rate stipulated in the Local Tax Collection Act and related laws from the current 3% to 5%, so that the contribution of autonomous districts to securing city funds can be reflected in the grants, as a measure to resolve the severe financial difficulties of autonomous districts and secure autonomous financial authority.

Councilor Yang argued, “In line with the era of local decentralization, a core task of the current government, it is necessary to resolve the financial imbalance between metropolitan and basic local governments and improve the unreasonable current local tax system, considering the serious financial difficulties faced by frontline autonomous districts.”

He added, “The Local Autonomy Act, revised for the first time in 32 years, has established an institutional foundation for strengthening local autonomy. I hope this proposal will serve as a small cornerstone for achieving financial decentralization for autonomous districts as well.”

Meanwhile, this is the first time nationwide that a local council has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to improve the local tax collection grant rate.

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