Next Year's Seoul City Budget Proposal, '48 Trillion Won Scale' Passed by City Council Budget Committee

Seoul Metropolitan Government's Proposal Increased by 73.7 Billion Won
Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Budget Approved at 10.8026 Trillion Won

The Seoul city budget proposal for next year, amounting to 48 trillion won, has passed the review by the Seoul Metropolitan Council's Budget and Accounts Special Committee.

On the 13th, the Budget and Accounts Committee held a plenary session and approved the budget proposals and fund operation plans submitted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education for 2025.

Previously, Seoul city submitted a budget proposal of 48.0407 trillion won to the council. After reviews by each standing committee, the Budget and Accounts Committee cut 53.23 billion won and increased 6.61 billion won based on expenditure proposals. Through this, a revised budget of 48.1144 trillion won was passed, reflecting a net increase of about 7.37 billion won.

Expenditures for the COVID-19 vaccination project were reduced by 10 billion won, and the general account contingency fund was cut by 11.141 billion won.

Increases were made for projects such as installation of protective fences (5.8 billion won), financial support for village buses (4 billion won), and local commercial district revitalization projects to recover the livelihood economy (3.2 billion won).

The council stated that non-urgent projects included in the fund operation plan were reduced and adjusted as deposits, so the total scale of the fund operation plan remains unchanged.

Choi Min-gyu, Chair of the Budget and Accounts Committee of the Seoul Metropolitan Council from the People Power Party. Provided by Seoul Metropolitan Council.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's budget was revised and approved at 10.8026 trillion won. Despite the expiration of national government support for free high school education, the revised proposal reflected the full burden of free high school education to ensure its continuation.

Considering social concerns about digital education policies, 54.3 billion won was cut from the smart device distribution project, and 66.4 billion won was reduced from civil servant personnel expenses, which had excessive unused funds over the past four years, resulting in a total cut of 131.2 billion won from the submitted budget proposal.

However, the budget for school facility environment improvement projects was increased by 91.1 billion won, and a total of 123.6 billion won was added in the revision. Choi Min-gyu, the Budget Committee Chair from the People Power Party, stated, "Projects that did not follow prior procedures were cut, and considering the difficult economic conditions, projects that could benefit citizens were increased."

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