Seongnam City announced Wednesday that it has submitted a second supplementary budget proposal to the city council, increasing this year's budget by 42.9 billion won to stabilize the local economy amid the fallout from the Middle East conflict.
The centerpiece of this supplementary budget is the "Energy Relief Fund." The city will allocate 42 billion won—98 percent of the increased budget—to provide 100,000 won to each of all 410,000 households. This initiative is separate from the central government's high oil price relief payments targeting citizens in the bottom 70 percent income bracket. Seongnam City plans to begin disbursements in early next month once it completes the necessary groundwork, including amendments to the "Basic Energy Ordinance."
The budget also includes increased funding to revitalize the local economy. The city has incorporated special guarantee contributions for small business owners (500 million won) and funding for the Small Business Hope Pack program (175 million won), which helps improve store operating environments, in this supplementary budget. Additionally, 200 million won has been allocated for the mobile walking app "WalkOn" project to encourage walking as part of energy conservation efforts.
If the second supplementary budget is approved at the 310th Extraordinary Session of Seongnam City Council convening on the 16th, the city's total budget for this year will increase by 1.03 percent, from the original 4.1804 trillion won to 4.2233 trillion won.
Seongnam Mayor Shin Sang-jin said, "This supplementary budget will serve as a safety net to help citizens maintain their daily lives amid external economic crises such as high oil prices."