GOYANG — Min Kyung-sun, mayor of Goyang in Gyeonggi Province, called on the provincial government for special consideration and expanded fiscal support, pointing to the city's mounting spending on welfare and livelihood programs. He specifically asked the province to maintain its current subsidy rate for Goyang Pay, the local currency program that underpins neighborhood commerce, stepping in directly to defend funding for livelihood measures.
According to the city on the 22nd, Min attended a meeting of the executive board of the Gyeonggi Association of Mayors and County Governors held with the governor at Dodamso in Suwon the previous day, where he explained the city's fiscal situation and discussed cooperation between the province and its municipalities. The gathering, which doubled as an introductory meeting for the association under the ninth popularly elected local government, drew seven local government heads on the executive board, including Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae and Min, who serves as a vice chairman of the association.
At the meeting, Min presented the city's structural fiscal burden as a pressing issue. "Goyang has the largest population aged 65 and over and the largest budget for long-term care benefits for older adults among Gyeonggi's 31 cities and counties, so the city's share of mandatory welfare spending is rising every year," he said.
"If the province lowers its subsidy rate for incentives under the local currency program, Goyang Pay, which is directly tied to reviving neighborhood commerce, the fiscal strain felt on the ground will only grow heavier," he said. "Policy consideration from Gyeonggi Province, including keeping the province's 40% share for Goyang Pay unchanged, is urgently needed."
Choo said the provincial cost-sharing ratio is not fixed across the board and can be revised depending on conditions on the ground. "I will listen closely to voices from the field and make adjustments so that support is differentiated to match the circumstances of each of the 31 cities and counties and fairness is secured," she said.
Min also proposed that the province and its 31 municipalities unite as "one team" in responding to issues shared by all basic-level local governments.
"Overhauling the formula for local allocation grants following the creation of the newly established future-response reserve fund (a fund set aside for future local-government needs), and improving the system for railway construction projects funded by the party that causes the need for them, are urgent tasks for every basic-level local government," Min said. "We should respond jointly and speak with one voice to the central government and the National Assembly to secure autonomy in local finances and ease the burden of railway operating costs."
Before the meeting began, participants paid tribute to the late Kim Jin-seok, a fire lieutenant at the Bucheon Fire Station who died in the line of duty while rescuing people at a recent fire.