Incheon's Yeongjong-gu District (Mayor Son Hwa-jeong) has begun preparing its 2027 main budget in earnest. The district held the ‘2026 3rd Local Subsidy Management Committee’ meeting on the 22nd in the main conference room of the district office. At the meeting, the committee reviewed a batch of fiscal agenda items at once. They included 79 local subsidy budget items to be included in next year's main budget, five local finance investment reviews and 13 new events and festivals.
 [The Korean Today] Yeongjong-gu's 2026 3rd Local Subsidy Management Committee meeting © Reporter Kim Mi-hee |
This review carries particular weight for Yeongjong-gu. Launched in July this year, the district is effectively drawing up its first main budget. The committee's review results will be reflected in the 2027 main budget proposal. In effect, the discussion will set the direction for the newly created autonomous district's finances in its first year.
The agenda fell into five categories. The committee took up 79 local subsidy budget proposals submitted by 15 departments, five local finance investment reviews and 13 preliminary reviews of new event-type projects. It also discussed proposed budgeting criteria for special duty expenses and matters concerning cost-sharing for local subsidies.
For each subsidy project, committee members examined whether it was truly necessary, whether it served the public interest and whether the proposed budget was appropriate. Investment projects were reviewed mainly for feasibility. For events and festivals to be held for the first time, members checked the expected benefits and the need to hold them, one by one. Local subsidies and event-related expenses largely support various projects with taxes paid by residents. For that reason, screening at the budgeting stage bears directly on the soundness of the district's finances.
The Local Subsidy Management Committee is a body that reviews, from an expert standpoint, the budgeting, execution and performance management of local subsidies. It also performs the functions of the Local Finance Planning Review Committee, the Local Finance Investment Review Committee and the Local Finance Disclosure Review Committee. In effect, it serves as a channel for overseeing the district's overall fiscal operations.
 [The Korean Today] Appointment ceremony for members of the 1st Yeongjong-gu Local Subsidy Management Committee © Reporter Kim Mi-hee |
Before the main meeting, an appointment ceremony was held for the ‘1st Yeongjong-gu Local Subsidy Management Committee’, the first such committee formed since Yeongjong-gu's launch. Mayor Son Hwa-jeong personally presented letters of appointment to the nine new private-sector members, including university professors, a lawyer, a tax accountant and research fellows, and offered words of encouragement.
The private-sector members are experts in a range of fields, including finance, law, accounting, urban sociology, business management and media. With three ex officio members, the committee has 12 members in total, who serve three-year terms. As the first item on the day's agenda, the committee elected the chair of its first term from among its members.
Mayor Son told the members, “I hope the Local Subsidy Management Committee will offer good opinions from diverse perspectives and help ensure that subsidies are used appropriately where they are truly needed, and that the process is carried out transparently and responsibly.” She added, “Please serve as a reliable guide so that our district's finances can be managed rationally and soundly over the next three years.”
Launched with experts from various fields, the first-term committee will act as a yardstick for the transparency and efficiency of Yeongjong-gu's fiscal management for the next three years. The review is also significant for Yeongjong residents. It offers the first chance to see the criteria used to screen the community-focused subsidy projects and local events planned for next year.
[ Reporter Kim Mi-hee: incheonsouth@thekoreantoday.com ]
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