The fight among local governments and lawmakers over the terms of the controversial "tax redistribution fund" (
The national dailies reported yesterday that the Cabinet is considering revising the existing quota of the fund, favoring a proposal to reduce the current 47 percent of the funds given to Taipei and Kaohsiung cities to 43 percent while raising the quota for county governments.
Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma said the issue had been "politicized," while Hsieh said the reduction of the quota for both special municipality governments, if carried out, would cause "immediate and apparent damage."
Four KMT lawmakers from Taipei and Kaohsiung also held a press conference yesterday to urge the central government to secure the existing quota of the overall fund allocated to the two cities.
But after lobbying Cabinet members in a closed door meeting during the intermission of the general interpellation session in the legislature, KMT Lawmaker Huang Chao-shun (
"I am not optimistic," Huang said, adding she is considering launching a protest along with Kaohsiung city residents against the Executive Yuan if the new quota scheme falls short of their expectations.
Three county commissioners have been selected to attend today's Executive Yuan meeting on behalf of other county and city leaders. Two of them took issue with the central government as well as their counterparts in Taipei and Kaohsiung cities.
"The likely new scheme is unacceptable," Taipei County Commissioner Su Chen-chang (蘇貞昌) told the Taipei Times.
"Both 47 percent and 43 percents are numbers that should be abandoned once and for all," Su said. "The spirit of the tax redistribution fund is to reduce the differences between town and country."
Su claimed that the current fixed quota system simply failed to achieve such an objective.
To achieve this goal, the central government should instead adopt an allocation formula that takes into consideration various localities' populations, existing tax revenues and demands for infrastructure, he added.
According to Ministry of Fin-ance regulations, the allocation of these funds is determined by a fixed quota system.
The existing quota allows special municipalities, counties and townships respectively to receive 47 percent, 35 percent and 12 percent of the fund. Of the 47 percent allocated to the two special municipalities, Taipei gets 74 percent and Kaohsiung 26 percent.
Another chosen representative, Hualien County Commissioner Wang Chin-feng (
"President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that the central government would treat local governments in a fair manner in the same way parents should treat their children. Instead of only paying lip service to us, it's time that the president does something to carry out his promises," Wang said.
Despite being lobbied and pressured from all sides, Premier Tang Fei (
"We have not reached any final decision so far as this issue involves various complex problems," Tang said yesterday afternoon after the end of the general interpellation session in the legislature.
Tang, however, exchanged opinions with Cabinet members over the issue last night at the Executive Yuan.
Starting at 8:30am today, Tang will convene a meeting with members of the Cabinet to decide a proposal for adjusting the percentage of the fund, but the final decision will be reached at the Cabinet's weekly meeting later in the morning.
(See Alos:Cities)
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