The row between local governments and the central government over the allocation of the tax redistribution fund is set to flare up again tomorrow when all sides gather to discuss the issue.
The Ministry of Finance intends to convene a meeting tomorrow at which county commissioners and city mayors from all over the country will get together to hammer out a draft proposal to amend the tax redistribution fund system.
Under the finance ministry's proposal, the percentage of the tax redistribution fund for the two special municipalities of Taipei and Kaohsiung will be lowered from the current 43 percent to 36.22 percent for the fiscal year 2003.
Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma said he has sent the draft to each local government head and personally contacted some of them to ask for their support at tomorrow's meeting.
A way to end the current impasse between the special municipalities and the central government over fund allocations would be to "make the pie bigger" for all local governments, Ma said.
Ma's proposal suggests expanding the tax "pie" by raising the percentage of business tax revenues going to local governments from 40 percent to 50 percent, and raising the percentage of income tax revenue and commodity tax revenue going to the local governments from 10 percent to 30 percent. This way, according to Ma, the total fund allocated to local governments would increase by NT$150 billion to a total of NT$300 billion.
In response to Ma's draft, Kaohsiung City Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday that the Taipei City Government's version is better than the finance ministry's draft, but that the problem of where the money would come from remains.
Hsieh also pointed out that in 1999, Ma had asked for his cooperation to make a stand against the central government, yet the Taipei mayor eventually bailed out on him.
"That was an unhappy experience, so I will reserve my opinion regarding a strategic alliance between Taipei City and Kaohsiung City," Hsieh said.
But Hsieh added that he supported the enactment of laws to equalize every local government's rights and obligations, making it possible to share resources and establish cooperation among cities and counties.
"That way, we won't have to bicker over the allocation of the tax redistribution fund every year," Hsieh said.
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Chang remarked that finances for every authority would be tight.
"I hope the central and local governments can solve this difficult problem with one mind," Chang said. "The relationship between [us] should be a partnership and therefore we must set ourselves the same goal."
Most KMT city mayors and county commissioners have expressed their support for Ma's plan, but DPP local government heads have kept quiet on the issue.
Commenting on the tax redistribution fund issue, KMT lawmaker Mu Min-chu (
Mu criticized the DPP government for not only monopolizing political power but also the nation's finances.
She pointed out that when Chen was Taipei City's mayor, he insisted that the annual tax redistribution fund received from the central government match or exceed the city's own tax income for the year.
However, Mu said, Chen has now allowed the Executive Yuan to decrease the tax redistribution fund allocated to Taipei -- a move she said was part of a "political conspiracy" against Ma.
In order to help the KMT retain the post of Taipei City mayor in the upcoming elections, Mu said she would organize a group headed by KMT vice chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
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