The Taipei City Government’s unusually large second reserve fund was budgeted to facilitate policy implementation and allow for more flexible spending, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said on Wednesday.
The city government has budgeted NT$1.5 billion (US$45.93 million) for its second reserve fund, which by law is to be used in case of emergency. The figure is the highest among all local governments and is NT$550 million higher compared with that budgeted last year by Ko’s predecessor, Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌).
The move has drawn criticism from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) city councilors, who questioned Ko about the issue at a meeting of the Taipei City Council, accusing him of treating the fund as his “personal account.”
During his policy address, Ko compared the amount of funds set aside by the six municipalities for emergency use, which include the first and second reserve funds and the disaster relief fund, and said that Taipei ranks third after Taichung and Tainan.
Ko said he had appropriated some money from the disaster relief fund to the second reserve fund because it would allow for expedient spending, which he would be able to oversee personally.
Underlining the importance of efficiency, he said the one thing that he detests most since assuming office in November is being told that there is no money or budget to support a policy’s implementation.
As all budgets proposed by the city government must be reviewed by the council, a lack of funds could result in policy delays of up to 18 months, and his allocation to the second reserve fund was aimed at avoiding such delays, Ko said.
The mayor said the second reserve fund can also cover expenditure for battling possible epidemics, such as Ebola and the Middle East respiratory syndrome.
With the world today threatened by extreme weather, the fund can also be used for disaster relief efforts, such as Typhoon Soudelor in August, which cost the city government about NT$700 million, Ko said.
He said the fund would also be used to subsidize efforts to renovate building facades to avoid falling tiles harming people, as well as to pay legal fees for lawsuits in which the city government is implicated.
The mayor promised to publish information on the use of the second reserve fund on the Internet every month and return all the money not used to the city’s treasury.
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