When Jeonnam and Gwangju Techno Parks are integrated, taxes and fees are expected to exceed 8 billion won.

Gwangju, Jeollanam-do = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Cheol-hong = In the process of merging Jeonnam Techno Park (TP) and Gwangju Techno Park into one, it was found that more than 8 billion won in taxes and fees due to asset transfer alone were incurred.

According to the '2027 tentatively named Jeonnam Gwangju Techno Park contribution agreement' submitted by Jeonnam Gwangju Unified Special City to the city council on the 5th, the city plans to contribute 9.288 billion won to the integrated TP next year.

Of these, 8.038 billion won is the tax burden borne by the integrated corporation when it acquires the assets of the existing corporation following the merger of institutions.

Acquisition tax is the largest at KRW 6.584 billion, followed by local education tax at KRW 564 million, special tax for rural areas at KRW 376 million, and bond discount burden at KRW 514 million.

The remaining KRW 1.25 billion was allocated to administrative operating expenses for the launch of the integrated corporation, including KRW 50 million for the development of CI such as the new organization's symbol and logo, and KRW 1.2 billion for the maintenance of signs at 40 existing facilities.

The city plans to integrate Jeonnam TP and Gwangju TP and launch the tentative name 'Jeonnam Gwangju Techno Park' in January next year.

The integrated TP's total income and expenditure budget estimate for next year is KRW 416.319 billion, which is KRW 32.712 billion more than this year's combined TP budget of KRW 383.67 billion.

Separately, a 2027 contribution plan of 2 billion won to the existing Jeonnam TP and 2.219 billion won to the Gwangju TP was also submitted in the name of business expenses such as operation of a research and development (R&D) institution and science and technology promotion and funds.

Unlike TP, other institutions subject to integration drew up their respective budgets for next year's contribution agreement based on the previous corporation.

The five representative functions targeted for integration, including researchers, lifelong education for talented people, social services, information and cultural industries, and cultural foundations, previously submitted contribution proposals for each corporation in Jeonnam and Gwangju, respectively.

Jeonnam Research Institute and Gwangju Research Institute requested 5.5 billion won and 6.522 billion won, respectively, and Jeonnam and Gwangju Human Resources Development Institute requested 6 billion won and 2.585 billion won.

The Jeonnam and Gwangju Social Service Centers allocated 1.714 billion won and 5.313 billion won, the Information and Culture Industry Promotion Agency allocated 2.672 billion won and 5.29 billion won, and the Cultural Foundation allocated 2.972 billion won and 6.33 billion won, respectively. A total of 10 organizations requested 44.898 billion won in contribution.

The contribution agreement is a procedure to obtain the consent of the local council prior to the actual budget allocation, and the final contribution amount is expected to change during next year's main budget review process.