In an apparent attempt to temper the public image of councilors as greedy self-serving, local council chiefs yesterday struck a tentative deal with the premier to reduce their budget requests in exchange for having more flexibility in how that money is used.
Painting their meeting with the premier as "satisfactory," Pai Hung-shen
"It really hurt when the media reported our requests as something that's for our own benefit," he said. "It's never been our intent to do so. What we want is simple: to be on an equal standing with the councils of the two special municipalities of Taipei and Kaohsiung."
The association had originally planned to present 16 proposals. Those proposals included an increase in their yearly allowances for overseas trips from the current NT$100,000 to NT$250,000; an increase in the monthly entertainment fees for speakers and vice speakers; and an increase in the number of councilors' assistants.
The yearly allowance for overseas trips for councilors in Taipei and Kaohsiung city councils is NT$150,000. The monthly entertainment budget for speakers and vice speakers in the two cities are between NT$140,000 and NT$200,000. Entertainment budgets in county and city councils are between NT$44,000 and NT$88,000.
In the end, the association made seven requests. In addition to approving two of the proposals, Yu asked Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) and Director-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Liu San-chi (劉三錡) to study the possibility of granting the association's five other requests. Yu asked them to present their report in two months.
Although the premier turned down the request to increase the speakers' and vice speakers' monthly entertainment fees, he did agree to let them be eligible for the fund if they can prove that they have spent half of the money. Currently, the councils have to present receipts in order to qualify for the allowance.
In addition, councils will no longer need to present receipts in order to obtain funding for things like stationery and stamps.
To reciprocate the premier's goodwill, the local council chiefs agreed to help the central government push certain government initiatives, including two job-creation programs and the effort to double the number of foreign tourists visiting Taiwan.
The two job-creation programs are the NT$20 billion public-service project and the NT$50 billion public works project. Together, it is estimated that the two programs will create a total of 115,000 job opportunities for one year.
The tourist program is part of the Cabinet's NT$2.6 trillion six-year national development project. It aims to raise the number of international travelers to Taiwan from the current 2.6 million to more than 5 million a year before 2008.
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