The Cabinet yesterday said it would give Kaohsiung City a larger portion of the nation's tax redistribution fund -- prompting Taipei City officials to accuse the government of "adding frost to the city's snowy economy."
The northern and southern cities divide a 43 percent share of a NT$160 billion fund between them.
Of that 43 percent, Kaohsiung received 26 percent this year, or NT$18 billion. Taipei meanwhile received 74 percent, or NT$51 billion.
Under the new formula, Kaohsiung will receive 29 percent of the tax redistribution fund that is reserved for the two cities.
Taipei would receive 71 percent, or roughly NT$1.4 billion less.
Though the Cabinet described the adjustment in the formula as a "slight change," Kaohsiung officials hailed the move as "a big step towards narrowing the gap between the north and south."
Though the switch is expected to result in a loss of NT$1.4 billion in revenue for Taipei next year, the Cabinet has promised another NT$1 billion through other measures.
Still, that hasn't placated Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who was incensed by the Cabinet's decision yesterday. The Cabinet called the redistribution measures "fair and reasonable."
"It seems that this decision was made for political reasons instead of professional ones," Ma said.
"The decision puts us in a very embarrassing situation, since next year's estimated annual budget is already at the city council for further review and final approval," the mayor said. "How does the central government expect us to come up with NT$400 million?"
The city approved its budget for next year on Tuesday. Revenues are estimated at NT$138.4 billion, 3.2 percent less than this year. Spending is estimated at NT$152.8 billion, 1.32 percent less than this year.
Feeling shortchanged, Ma vowed to fight the cutback.
His counterpart in Kaohsiung, Frank Hsieh (
"Even though this was a slight change it [the increase] was a big step toward balancing the distribution of the tax fund between the north and the south," Hsieh said.
And the DPP does not oppose everything Ma proposes, Hsieh added.
"Instead, we have yielded on everything proposed by Ma," he said. "Take the 34th Baseball World Cup and the issuance of national lottery tickets. Everything goes Ma's way eventually, doesn't it?"
Kaohsiung lost its bid to host the baseball competition's final after the chief of the International Baseball Federation said in July that the event would remain in Taipei as scheduled.
In May, the Ministry of Finance authorized Taipei Bank rather than the Bank of Kaohsiung to issue tickets for a planned national lottery.
Lee Sush-der (
"When we visited the premier last Tuesday to express our stance, we thought he would've taken our opinion seriously," Lee said. "But we didn't know the decision until we saw the morning paper."
Lee said the incident might set a bad example for other localities.
"If Kaohsiung can get more money from Taipei like this, why can't Hualien or other needy counties do the same?" he said.
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