Goyang City Ramps Up Efforts to Expand Independent Revenue... Building a Financial Foundation Befitting Its Special City Status

The City Tackles Low Financial Independence Head-On by Increasing Non-Tax Revenue

Aims to Secure 10 Billion Won Annually by Raising Collection Rate by 1 Percentage Point

Focusing on Discovering New Revenue Sources such as "GoyangCon"

Selected as an Excellent Institution in Tax Administration Evaluation for Five Consecutive Years

Achieves Record Performance, Including Discovery of 13.5 Billion Won in Untaxed Revenue

Goyang Special City in Gyeonggi Province is accelerating its multifaceted "independent revenue expansion strategy" to overcome its low financial independence ratio and tax revenue structure that is highly sensitive to economic fluctuations. The city aims to establish a robust financial foundation befitting its special city status through systematic tax administration and creative revenue source discovery.

Thanks to these efforts, the city has demonstrated remarkable growth, being selected for the fifth consecutive year as an excellent institution in the "Gyeonggi Province Local Tax Administration Evaluation" and for the second consecutive year in the "Gyeonggi Province Local Tax Special Collection Measures Performance" category.

Goyang City Establishes Financial Foundation Suitable for Special City Status (2) 2026 Local Tax Revenue Management Meeting. Provided by Goyang City

This Year’s Revenue Budget: 2.8738 Trillion Won... Pursuing Diversified Strategies for Stable Resource Acquisition

According to Goyang City as of May 14, the current financial independence ratio stands at 32.94%, which is lower than that of other special cities in the province. In particular, the city’s tax revenue structure, which is centered on holding taxes such as property taxes, is relatively stable during economic downturns, but has limitations in increasing tax revenue even during periods of economic revitalization.

To address this, the city has set its general account revenue budget for this year at 2.8738 trillion won, an increase of 64.2 billion won from the previous year, and is implementing advanced revenue management strategies. Of this, local tax revenue, which is the city’s own income, increased by 19.6 billion won to 791.8 billion won.

This is attributed to the increase in taxable properties such as newly constructed officetels and the improvement in local income tax revenue resulting from rising wages.

To ensure a stable independent revenue base, the city has selected 100 corporations for this year’s regular tax audit, focusing on: ▲ large-scale development project operators, ▲ corporations suspected of avoiding the higher tax rates applied to large cities, and ▲ corporations that received large tax reductions for acquiring multiple properties in knowledge industrial centers. In addition, the city plans to conduct planned audits in vulnerable areas and comprehensive investigations into companies that received unjust tax reductions, thereby working to eliminate tax blind spots.

These efforts are yielding tangible results. Last year, the city discovered 13.5 billion won in previously untaxed sources, an increase of 5.8 billion won from the previous year, through regular and planned tax audits. Based on this, Goyang City was selected as the best city or county in the "2025 Urban Special Collection Measures Performance Evaluation" organized by Gyeonggi Province.

Furthermore, the city continues to carry out research activities aimed at securing a long-term financial foundation. In 2023, the city conducted research on "Measures to Secure Financial Special Exemptions for Special Cities," and in 2025, it proposed a research project for "Fiscal Impact Analysis to Expand Financial Special Exemptions for Special Cities." These initiatives are part of the city’s efforts to secure financial special exemptions and improve systems appropriate to its special city scale.

Goyang City Establishes Financial Foundation Suitable for Special City Status. Current Financial Independence Status of Special Cities. Provided by Goyang City.

Encouraging Voluntary Tax Payment to Build Trustworthy Tax Administration

The city plans to maximize tax revenue efficiency by encouraging citizens to pay taxes voluntarily. It estimates that for every 1 percentage point increase in the collection rate, approximately 10 billion won in additional resources will be secured, and is focusing its administrative capabilities on achieving this goal.

To ensure fair taxation, the city is working with Korea Real Estate Board to enhance the reliability of officially announced real estate prices. At the same time, it aims to increase the current mobile electronic notification usage rate from 21.3% to 25% to address issues with undelivered tax bills and achieve budget savings. Last year, the city had already raised its local tax collection rate to 91%, thereby securing an additional 8.5 billion won in resources.

Aerial view of Goyang Sports Complex. Provided by Goyang City

Securing 12.5 Billion Won in Non-Tax Revenue through 'GoyangCon'... Expanding Discovery of New Resources

The most notable achievement is "GoyangCon," a project combining culture and finance through the hosting of large-scale performances. Last year, the city attracted a series of global large-scale performances, generating approximately 12.5 billion won in non-tax revenue.

This is significant as it was achieved through the city’s own efforts, not by relying on central government funding. Having confirmed that spending by performance audiences leads to a virtuous cycle of revitalizing the local commercial district, the city plans to continue discovering further "second GoyangCon" cases in the future.

Recognizing these outcomes, the city won the top prize in Gyeonggi Province at the "2025 Non-Tax Revenue Research Presentation Competition" and received a commendation from the Minister of the Interior and Safety in the "18th Korea Local Finance Awards" in the local non-tax revenue category.

In particular, this achievement is meaningful in that the independent resources were secured through city policies and initiatives, rather than reliance on central government funding. The city plans to further strengthen its system for monitoring and supporting non-tax revenue in order to discover additional cases like "GoyangCon" in the future.

A Goyang City official stated, "Despite limited financial conditions, Goyang City continues to expand its tax base and non-tax revenue in order to secure stable independent resources," adding, "We will do our utmost to establish a systematic revenue management and discover new resources so as to build a financial foundation befitting our special city status."

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