Osan City Sets 2024 Budget at 888.48 Billion Won, Freezing Spending at This Year's Level

Mayor Lee Kwonjae: "Considering Labor Cost Increases and Welfare Budget, This Is Essentially Austerity"

Osan City in Gyeonggi Province has drawn up next year's budget at a level similar to this year. The increase is just 0.02% compared to this year's budget, and when considering rising labor costs and increased welfare spending, this essentially amounts to an austerity budget.

On the 26th, Osan City announced that it had prepared a budget proposal for next year totaling 888.48 billion won and submitted it to the city council. This is an increase of 162 million won (0.02%) compared to this year's main budget of 888.32 billion won.

Lee Kwonjae, Mayor of Osan, is delivering the city administration speech at the city council plenary session on the 25th. Osan City submitted the next year's budget proposal amounting to 888.4 billion won, the same level as this year, to the city council on the day. Provided by Osan City

The proposed budget for next year consists of 743.005 billion won for the general account and 145.477 billion won for special accounts.

On the 25th, during his city administration speech at the city council plenary session, Mayor Lee Kwonjae of Osan explained, "Excluding mandatory expenses such as labor cost increases and designated-use expenditures like welfare spending, the actual available resources have decreased, making this a budget with an austerity stance."

The city stated that the budget was focused on: establishing a proactive foundation for a self-sufficient city of 500,000 residents; improving transportation infrastructure and guaranteeing citizens' mobility rights; enhancing administrative convenience, citizen safety, and welfare; and creating cultural and healing spaces for residents.

In particular, to ensure citizen safety, the city strengthened the budget for pre-inspection and maintenance of multi-use facilities. Specifically, 650 million won was allocated for safety inspections of multi-use facilities such as public institutions and playgrounds, and 2.84 billion won was earmarked for inspection, maintenance, and repairs of bridges and tunnels.

The budget proposal also includes: a 11 billion won fund transfer for the construction of the Gyeongbu Line railroad crossing road; 26.6 billion won for the purchase of the Saegyo Terminal site; and 5.8 billion won for the construction of the Sinjang 2-dong Administrative Welfare Center.

Additionally, 4 billion won was allocated for the renovation of stadiums in preparation for the 2027-2028 Gyeonggi-do Comprehensive Sports Festival, and 450 million won for the construction of the Sema Baseball Stadium.

In the land and regional development sector, notable allocations include: 400 million won in subsidies for nightscape lighting in apartment complexes; 350 million won in subsidies for maintenance of aging apartment complexes; 4.4 billion won for the creation of a citizen healing space at Seorang Reservoir; and 300 million won for the remodeling of Unam 2nd Children's Park.

In the transportation sector, the city allocated 1.05 billion won for the Saegyo 2 District Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Plan, 400 million won for the basic plan study for Osan City's Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Plan, and 1.68 billion won for improvement projects in children's protection zones.

In the education sector, the budget includes: 180 million won to support native speaker video English education; 260 million won for student career and academic support; 370 million won for overnight experiential learning for middle school students; 720 million won for school environment improvement partnership projects; 200 million won for entrance congratulatory funds for elementary school students; and 270 million won for AI coding education. In the welfare sector, the allocations include: 305 million won for childbirth incentives; 950 million won for sanitary products for female adolescents; 310 million won for veterans' honor allowances; 210 million won for funeral support; and 19.15 billion won for child allowances.

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