Changwon Special City, Focused Investment on Resident Welfare, Safety Enhancement, and Future New Industries for Next Year

2024 Budget Proposal Set at '3.7073 Trillion Won'

Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam has decided to focus its next year’s budget on enhancing residents' welfare and safety, as well as prioritizing future new industries.

Changwon Special City Hall, Gyeongnam.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

Changwon Special City recently submitted its 2024 budget proposal to the city council, emphasizing support for socially vulnerable groups, maintenance of urban infrastructure to prepare for disaster environments, and fostering future new businesses.

The total scale of Changwon City's 2024 budget proposal is 3.7073 trillion KRW, an increase of 7.5 billion KRW (0.2%) compared to this year. The general account increased by 700 million KRW (0.02%) to 3.2417 trillion KRW, and the special account increased by 6.8 billion KRW (0.02%) to 465.6 billion KRW.

Key revenue sources for the general account include ▲local tax revenue of 859 billion KRW (a decrease of 9.3 billion KRW) ▲non-tax revenue of 132.9 billion KRW (a decrease of 8.9 billion KRW) ▲national and provincial subsidies of 1.4011 trillion KRW (an increase of 70.9 billion KRW) ▲local allocation tax of 601.8 billion KRW (a decrease of 66.8 billion KRW) ▲adjustment grants of 140.7 billion KRW (an increase of 11.3 billion KRW). Due to a significant reduction in government allocation tax, strong expenditure restructuring was implemented to secure available resources by cutting operational expenses (office management costs reduced by 18%, policy project expenses by 23%, and asset acquisition costs by 60%).

Looking at the allocation of general account funds by sector: ▲general public administration 144.9 billion KRW (4.47%) ▲public order and safety 57.5 billion KRW (1.77%) ▲education 22.8 billion KRW (0.7%) ▲culture and tourism 232.2 billion KRW (7.16%) ▲environment 177.8 billion KRW (5.48%) ▲social welfare 1.5043 trillion KRW (46.40%) ▲health 51.5 billion KRW (1.59%) ▲agriculture, forestry, marine, and fisheries 151.1 billion KRW (4.66%) ▲industry, small and medium enterprises, and energy 80.1 billion KRW (2.47%) ▲transportation and logistics 177.8 billion KRW (5.49%) ▲land and regional development 102.9 billion KRW (3.18%) ▲contingency funds 18.8 billion KRW (0.58%) ▲personnel expenses and others 520 billion KRW (16.04%).

By major investment type, 14.3 billion KRW was allocated to disaster-vulnerable area and facility maintenance projects to strengthen investments protecting citizens’ lives and safety, including ▲Shinchon district stormwater retention facility maintenance 3.3 billion KRW ▲Guigok-dong flood zone improvement project 1.5 billion KRW ▲Banji disaster risk zone maintenance 1.4 billion KRW.

Investments to strengthen tailored support by life cycle and expand the self-reliance foundation for socially vulnerable groups include ▲5.623 trillion KRW for elderly welfare projects such as basic pensions and senior centers operation support ▲1.602 trillion KRW for disability welfare projects including disability pensions and activity support ▲267.1 billion KRW for childcare support such as infant care fees and home care allowances. Additionally, ▲29.4 billion KRW for school meal support and ▲1.5 billion KRW for Changwon Newcomer Support Project were included.

To enhance competitiveness of core industries and foster new industries, active funding was allocated: ▲1.6 billion KRW for regional traditional industry technology development support including the Industrial Digital Transformation Collaboration Support Center ▲2.5 billion KRW for medical bio manufacturing company development ▲2.4 billion KRW for nuclear and defense industry development ▲700 million KRW for future mobility industry support ▲5.3 billion KRW for hydrogen industry development including hydrogen component development support and hydrogen charging station operation.

To build safe and convenient living infrastructure and respond to climate change and environmental crises, investments include ▲5 billion KRW for road construction between Jaeun 3 District and Pungho-dong ▲2.2 billion KRW for Wonidaero S-BRT construction project. Also, ▲15.9 billion KRW for early scrapping support of old diesel vehicles ▲19.6 billion KRW for electric vehicle purchase support ▲1.9 billion KRW for installation support of air pollution prevention facilities at small-scale workplaces ▲3.3 billion KRW for improvement projects of children’s school routes and protection zones, strengthening investments for safe daily life expansion and green industry foundation establishment.

To revitalize the local economy and prevent youth population outflow, investments include ▲2.1 billion KRW for Nubijeon operation ▲3.3 billion KRW for traditional market revitalization support projects ▲5.5 billion KRW for 37 youth support policies including Youth Tomorrow Account support ▲27.6 billion KRW for job projects such as local community and public work.

For urban quality enhancement, the budget includes ▲19.1 billion KRW for Jinhae Culture Center and Library construction ▲4.7 billion KRW for urban regeneration New Deal projects such as Seokjeon-dong Neighborhood Harmony Center creation ▲7 billion KRW for Seoseong-dong Cultural Park creation project.

Hong Nampyo, Mayor of Changwon Special City, stated, “Although financial conditions are difficult due to unprecedented revenue decreases, we have strategically allocated the budget to projects that must be pursued for citizen safety, living improvements, and welfare enhancement. Next year, we will also prevent financial leakages in advance and ensure smooth progress of projects for city development through efficient financial management.”

Meanwhile, the submitted 2024 Changwon City budget proposal is expected to be finalized after review and approval at the 129th Changwon City Council (2nd regular session) starting on the 27th.

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