The rest of the National Assembly, including North Chungcheong Province, deliberates within the 3.5% increase in civil servant remuneration.
(Cheongju = Yonhap News) Reporter Jeon Chang-hae = Debate continues over whether to increase the monthly stipend that local lawmakers in the North Chungcheong region receive.
While deliberation committees are being held to determine legislative expenses in North Chungcheong Province and each of the 11 cities and counties, opinions that it needs to be realized are fiercely opposed, and criticism that it is overzealous amidst the tight financial situation.
According to North Chungcheong Province on the 5th, the Legislative Expenses Deliberation Committee formed in each local government in the province has held one to two meetings so far and is working on setting the legislative expenses that city and county councilors in the region will receive over the next four years.
Legislative expenses are divided into legislative activity expenses and monthly allowances. Excluding legislative activity expenses, which have an upper limit under the Local Autonomy Act, the amount of monthly allowance equivalent to the basic salary is determined.
The deliberation committee will look at the number of residents, financial independence, performance of legislative activities, as well as the opinions of the council and residents, and make a final decision on whether to increase the legislative fee by the 31st of this month.
Meanwhile, as a large increase in price increases is detected in some regions, a debate is ensuing over its appropriateness.
First, the Goesan-gun Legislative Budget Deliberation Committee decided to increase the monthly allowance of county members by 18% and plans to hold a public hearing on the 23rd to collect residents' opinions.
If the provisional increase in monthly allowance is confirmed, the total legislative expenses received by one county council member will be 44,818,800 won, including 18 million won in legislative activity expenses. This amount is 10% more than this year (40,727,760 won).
Compared to this year's standard civil servant compensation increase rate (3.5%), it is about three times higher.
The reasons for this increase were that Goesan County Council's monthly allowance is the lowest among city and county councils in the province and that the activity area of council members is wide due to the nature of Goesan.
Jincheon County, which is adjacent to Goesan County, will also hold a public hearing on the 20th regarding a plan to increase the monthly allowance of county councilors by more than 15%.
The opinion is that Jincheon-gun should be at the same level as other local governments with similar population size and financial independence.
If this continues, the annual legislative expenses of Jincheon County Council members will increase by 9.2% from this year to 49 million won (including legislative activity expenses).
Cheongju City decided to prepare a 7% increase in monthly allowance for city council members and conduct a citizen opinion poll.
Previously, the city council submitted a request to the review committee to increase the monthly allowance by 14.1%, the highest level ever.
It was argued that the monthly allowance needed to be realized as it was the lowest among the top 10 most populous local governments in the country, including Cheongju, and that a significant increase was needed considering the increasing administrative demands and the city's financial capacity.
The review committee judged this request to be excessive and adjusted the increase rate downward.
However, even if it increases by just 7%, the per-person legislative expenses of Cheongju city council members will increase to 56.27 million won (including legislative activity expenses) per year, which is 2.503 million won more than now.
Considering that the number of city council members is 45, the budget that Cheongju City has to pay for legislative expenses is more than 112 million won more than it is now.
Civil society began to criticize the Cheongju City Council, even using the harsh expression 'over-indulgence'.
An official from the Chungbuk Citizens' Solidarity for Participatory Autonomy pointed out, "We are not denying the need for appropriate remuneration commensurate with the roles and responsibilities of local council members, but legislative expenses are paid with citizens' taxes. Moreover, if it is a council that deliberates citizens' taxes and budget, it must be more strict in raising its own remuneration."
He emphasized, "The first thing the National Assembly must do now is to gain the trust of the citizens, not to overindulge beyond their expectations," and added, "The National Assembly Review Committee must feel a heavy responsibility and present deliberation results that the citizens can understand."
Meanwhile, North Chungcheong Province, Chungju, Jecheon City, Danyang, Jeungpan, Eumseong, Boeun, Okcheon, and Yeongdong counties are all reviewing whether to increase monthly allowances within the range of 3.5%, which is the increase rate of civil servant compensation.
In this case, there is no need to hold a public hearing or public opinion survey.
However, the deliberation committees of these local governments are said to be taking a cautious stance, saying that they will make the final decision after observing the situation in other regions.
The monthly allowance for lawmakers in these regions as of this year is 44.26 million won in Chungbuk-do, 31.58 million won in Jecheon-si, 30.98 million won in Chungju-si, 29.21 million won in Eumseong-gun, 28.69 million won in Okcheon-gun, 26.72 million won in Yeongdong-gun, 26.63 million won in Danyang-gun, 25.66 million won in Jeungpyeong-gun, and Boeun-gun. It is 25.5 million won.
