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🇹🇼 Taiwan /Elections & Politics

Taichung Mayor Faces Pressure for Universal Cash Handout

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Context piece
  • Several Taichung city councilors urged Mayor Lu Shiow-yen to implement a universal cash handout, citing smaller municipalities like Tongluo Township in Miaoli County distributing 8,500 NT dollars.
  • Mayor Lu stated that Taichung lacks a "surplus in the fiscal budget" to fund such a program, despite councilors pointing to increased tax revenues and central government allocations.
  • Councilors also questioned the mayor's spending on major public works and suggested reallocating funds, drawing parallels to the city's free school lunch program.

Taichung city councilors are pressing Mayor Lu Shiow-yen to distribute cash universally to residents, drawing a comparison to the smaller Tongluo Township in Miaoli County, which recently announced a handout of 8,500 NT dollars per person. Councilors Chen Yu-jung, Chen Shu-hua, and Chen Ya-hui argued that if a less affluent municipality can afford such a measure, Taichung should also prioritize direct financial support for its citizens.

The financial scale is far inferior to Taichung, yet they have a way to distribute money to citizens.

· Chen Yu-jungCouncilor Chen Yu-jung referencing Miaoli County's Tongluo Township distributing 8,500 NT dollars per person.

Despite the councilors' persistent questioning, Mayor Lu maintained that Taichung does not have a "surplus in the fiscal budget" to accommodate a universal cash handout. This response comes even as councilors highlighted Taichung's increased central government allocations and tax revenues. Chen Yu-jung pointed out that Taichung received an additional 1.1 billion NT dollars in central government discretionary funds this year, and over 31.1 billion NT dollars more in overall allocations compared to the previous year. They argued that these "dividends" from the revision of the fiscal revenue allocation law should be considered for a direct payout to the public.

Further challenging the mayor's stance, councilors cited other cities that have implemented cash distributions, such as Chiayi City (6,000 NT dollars), Hsinchu City (5,000 NT dollars in consumer vouchers), and Huatan Township in Changhua County (6,000 NT dollars). Chen Ya-hui specifically requested the city government to present an evaluation report on a universal cash handout, including details on funding, amounts, and timelines, to allow citizens to share in the city's development achievements.

Taichung does not have a surplus in the fiscal budget.

· Lu Shiow-yenMayor Lu Shiow-yen's response to calls for a universal cash handout.

Councilors also criticized the mayor's administration for significant increases in public works spending, exceeding 100 billion NT dollars over seven years, along with substantial land sales and tax surpluses. Chen Shu-hua suggested that funds wasted on inefficient projects could be redirected to benefit citizens directly, drawing a parallel to the city's recent adoption of free school lunches for all public and private elementary and middle school students. The councilors implied that if the city can fund such initiatives, it should also consider a universal cash distribution.

Why not save the wasted money and take care of citizens with a universal cash handout?

· Chen Shu-huaCouncilor Chen Shu-hua questioning the mayor's budget priorities.
About this summary

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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