The National Audit Office in a report called on local governments to face structural income imbalances, while announcing plans to draft special taxes and improve the management of public properties to increase local financial independence.
The annual audit on local government budgets showed that by the end of fiscal 2015, the total debt of local governments reached NT$1.0041 trillion (US$31.4. billion), an increase of NT$121.61 billion, with only Kinmen and Lienchiang counties having no outstanding debt.
Among the special municipalities, which are allowed to have greater amounts of debt and receive a proportionally greater share of central government funding, the greatest increase was for New Taipei City, which added NT$56.4 billion in debt, an increase of 84.94 percent.
Miaoli Country’s increase of NT$5.157 billion was the largest among county governments, representing a rise of 15.11 percent. The county’s budgetary crisis last year increased the focus on the debts of local governments.
Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Nantou County and Taitung County also saw their debts increase.
According to official figures, total local government debt increased by 13.78 percent from fiscal years 2011 to 2015.
The office’s report also stated that the debts of Yilan County and Miaoli County exceed legal debt limits, with their debt representing 58.04 percent and 67.03 percent of their annual budgets respectively.
New Taipei City Department of Finance Director-General Lu Wei-ching (呂衛青) said that the city’s financing has been impaired in recent years, because it has repaid NT$30 billion to the central government in labor insurance fees.
Miaoli County Government said that falsified budget figures were the main reason for its accumulation of debt, adding that unfair apportionment of tax revenue to local governments is also an issue.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
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