City Treasury Contributions Should Be Recorded as Non-Tax Revenue

A proposal has been made for Suwon City to directly record budget contributions from the city treasury as non-tax revenue and use it to enhance citizen welfare.

Councilor Yoon Gyeong-seon (proportional representation) argued during the administrative audit of the Trade and Commerce Bureau on the 26th, "Contributions from the city treasury are becoming expenses that the city cannot manage, such as scholarship foundation operations," and "Starting next year, such tax revenues should be incorporated into the city's finances."

Councilor Yoon stated, "The city treasury's contributions should be recorded as expenditure budget items of Suwon City and should be expended after review by Suwon City," and pointed out, "In particular, it is unacceptable that city councilors, who should oversee and supervise the city's administration, cannot access these records."

In response, Director Lee Joong-hwa said, "Since contributions are used for public interest purposes, you councilors need not be concerned," but added, "However, it is difficult to disclose the items for which contributions are used as they are corporate secrets."

Councilor Yoon said, "I am aware that the city treasury selection process was legal," but pointed out, "However, even if the selection process was legal, in terms of various evaluation items and evaluation times, the existing selected bank inevitably has advantages, which could appear as favoritism, and citizens may harbor doubts about the specific bank's long-term contract. City administration improvement is needed going forward."

Additionally, Councilor Yoon stated, "The Industrial Bank, which serves as the city treasury, frequently provides prizes at various Suwon City events and attends to the personal matters of employees, often appearing as if they were city employees," and asked, "I would like to question whether such excessive event participation is appropriate."

Notably, at the audit session that day, councilors raised their voices demanding submission of the city treasury's contribution usage details, drawing attention, but ultimately the request for data submission was not accepted.

In response, Councilor Kim Myeong-uk raised his voice, saying, "The details of the city treasury contributions are documents that the mayor can view, but city councilors elected by popular will cannot access them, making the phrase 'audit without blind spots' seem hollow."