Commissioners and mayors of seven cities and counties yesterday signed a joint letter demanding that the central government adjust its loan capacity structure and debt ceiling limits so that local governments can avoid potential bankruptcy, amid a proposed amendment to the Public Debt Act (公共債務法).
Led by Chiayi County Commissioner Helen Chang (張花冠), the seven cities and counties urged the central government to increase the debt limit for 16 cities and counties, excluding the five special municipalities, from 1.43 percent of the average GDP of the previous three years, to 2.63 percent.
Hsinchu and Keelung cities, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin, Yilan and Hualien counties also sent representatives — lawmakers or deputy commissioners — to the press conference at the legislature.
Under the Cabinet’s proposed amendment, total public debt at all levels of government would be capped at 50 percent of the average GDP for the previous three years. A debt limit of 41.2 percent would be set for the central government, 7.25 percent for the special municipalities, 1.43 percent for the remaining 16 counties and cities, and 0.12 percent for all villages and townships.
Chang said the plan was unfair for the 16 cities and counties and has once again shown the imbalance of fund allocation between various levels of governments.
The debt capacity for the special municipalities would be 5.07 times that of the 16 cities and counties, despite the municipalities having a combined population that is only 2.23 times that of the smaller cities and counties, said Chang, who initiated the recommendation on Dec. 5.
The seven commissioners and mayors recommended revising the debt structure so that the central government would give up 1.2 percent of its capacity to the 16 cities and counties, Chang said.
They also recommended lowering the debt ceiling for local governments from 45 percent of the annual budget to 80 percent.
According to Chang, Yilan County, Miaoli County and Hsinchu City have all exceeded their debt ceilings, and five other local governments, including Chiayi County, are close to reaching their debt limits.
The recommended measures would not change the state of local governments’ finances overnight, but are expected to ease the fiscal burden, Chang said.
“No one wants to incur debt and we know the nation’s finances are in a difficult condition, but the truth is that local governments have suffered from unfair budget allocations for decades and the resulting financial hardship has impeded local development,” Pingtung Deputy Commissioner Chung Chia-ling (鍾佳濱) said.
DPP Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國), who represented Yunlin County at the press conference, warned the government against ignoring poorer cities and counties and only paying attention to the densely populated special municipalities.
“The Constitution stipulates that each and every citizen should be treated the same way and the government should not make some people ‘A-class’ citizens and others ‘B-class,’” Liu said.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS