Yunlin County could face a funding shortfall of about NT$1 billion (US$31.94 million) in October, but the county is working on cutting back spending and raising income by auctioning land, county officials said on Wednesday.
Since the county does not expect to receive any tax revenue until November — when the county is to collect land value taxes — it expects the shortfall to occur in October, county officials said, adding that the money is needed to pay the salaries of government employees, for public works and for social welfare projects.
Yunlin had total debts of NT$30.75 billion as of last month, Department of Finance Director Hung Jen-sheng (洪仁聲) said.
That translates into an average debt of about NT$34,000 for each county resident, Hung said.
“The debt means that Yunlin County has no room to borrow more funds under budget regulations. However, the county is determined to cut its spending and look for new revenue sources to address its financial difficulties,” she said.
Yunlin County Commissioner Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) has pledged to cut his monthly special budget of NT$66,000, while the government also plans to slash spending on public affairs and subsidies, Hung said.
She said the county government is planning to auction public land.
“Since the beginning of the year, the Yunlin County Government has seen the urgency of reining in its spending and raising its income due to its large debt. We are working on a package to deal with the problems,” Hung said.
She said that the county government would release details of a package soon on how to tackle the debt.
“We have faith that we will be able to overcome financial difficulties, so it is unlikely that Yunlin would seek financial assistance from the central government as Miaoli County has done,” Hung said.
The Miaoli County Government has asked for a bailout from the central bank as the county is NT$64.8 billion in debt and needs to spend NT$600 million in salaries for staff and an additional NT$600 million in pensions this month alone.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern
RSS