Cabinet to Intervene in Miaoli County’s Fiscal Management

 Cabinet to Intervene in Miaoli County’s Fiscal Management

 Sources: All Taipei newspapers

 July 14, 2015

The Miaoli County government is currently facing a fiscal crisis. As of the end of June, the county government’s debt totaled NT$ 64.8 billion (approximately US$ 2.16 billion), almost reaching its statutory debt ceiling and causing the county to be unable to pay employee salaries in July. 

To rescue the county from the brink of bankruptcy, County Executive Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌) came to the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) last Friday to seek assistance, requesting a NT$ 10 billion (approximately US$ 334 million) bailout. 

Premier Mao Chih-kuo yesterday decided that if the Miaoli County government urgently needed help, the central government would intervene to control the Miaoli County’s fiscal order and the flow of funds, with the priority to pay salaries to county employees and general administrative expenditures. The Premier stated, “The Cabinet will not offer the Miaoli County government new money,” but the Miaoli County government could apply for advance payments of appropriations from the central government funds earmarked for local allocations. 

Cabinet spokesman Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) noted that it was impossible to provide cash to the debt-burdened county, and Premier Mao stressed that this was central government intervention in the fiscal order of a local government, not a “takeover.” 

An official from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics (DGBAS) under the Executive Yuan stated that in the future, all appropriations for Miaoli County government under the central government funds earmarked for local allocations should be placed under the tight control of DGBAS with the priority to meet county payroll and administrative expenditures. In addition, the DGBAS official stressed that the Miaoli County government should conduct comprehensive reviews of its social welfare subsidies, some of which the county government had padded, and at the same time decrease the number of unneeded temporary employees.

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