Legislators propose merger of Taipei City, Taipei County

Three Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday proposed holding a referendum in Taipei County on whether Taipei County and Taipei City should be merged　during the year-end elections for mayors and county commissioners.

According to the Referendum Law (公投法), for a regional referendum to be held, at least 0.5 percent of the eligible voters in the last election for mayors and county commissioners are required to file a petition.

The law also requires that signatures of 5 percent of the number of voters who took part in the most recent city and county elections are needed before a petition for a referendum can be screened by the Referendum Review Committee.

Confident

KMT legislators Joanna Lei (雷倩), Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) and Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池), who all represent Taipei County, said they are confident that they can garner a sufficient number of signatures in their constituencies.

They claimed that several opinion polls over the years show that a majority of respondents are in favor of a merger and that there are many advantages to merging the two.

If the plan is realized, Wu said that the single constituency can keep a larger share of tax revenues and enjoy more autonomy, as the two existing municipalities of Taipei and Kaohsiung do.

Unequal distribution has been a serious problem in local governments. Taipei and Kaohsiung cities are considered special municipalities and are funded by and accountable to the Executive Yuan and have always received the greatest single share of resources from the central government.

The practice has resulted in wide gaps between the two cities and other cities and counties.

Tax inequalities

Taipei and Kaohsiung cities, with their joint population of 4.1 million, currently receive 43 percent of the Tax Redistribution Fund (統籌分配款) between them, while the other 21 counties and cities, having some 18 million people, share 57 percent. The fund supplies the lion's share of local government revenues.

The two cities are also entitled to hire more public servants than other local governments.

Aiming getting more resources, many local governments have tried to be upgraded to a special municipality over the years. Taichung City and Taipei County have been at the forefront of such campaigns.