The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) of financial mismanagement when he was Taipei mayor, rebutting the latter’s claim that he is the best in maintaining fiscal discipline and safeguarding taxpayers’ money.
“Ko is deceiving the public, touting his abilities to govern, save taxpayers’ money and pay off the city government’s debt, while accusing the central government of profligate spending,” DPP spokesman Chang Chih-hao (張志豪) told a news conference in Taipei. “It is Ko misleading the public again with wrong information.”
Pointing to Ko’s claim that he had paid off Taipei’s NT$57 billion (US$1.76 billion) debt, DPP spokeswoman Michelle Lin (林楚茵) said that Ko borrowed reserved funds from foundations and agencies under the city government’s administration, and used the money to window-dress the figures.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“It is an old accounting trick — borrowing from Peter to pay Paul — which depletes assets under government control,” she said.
Chang and Lin were responding to Ko’s presentation earlier yesterday of his political platform, in which he said he would focus on fiscal restraint and government responsibility, as he accused the DPP government of having poor financial policies, extravagant spending and unequal resource allocation that has created poor and wealthy regions.
Ko is known for his “eight big project failures,” which cost taxpayers more than NT$400 million, Chang said.
These included NT$3 million to set up mask vending machines during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with only 24 masks being sold per day, he said.
Another big flop was the NT$11.82 million spent on a “mobile police station” pilot program, which was terminated early, he said.
Ko also approved NT$70 million for the city government to set up 69 apps to provide better services to residents, but 54 of them have been taken down, resulting in losses at least NT$33.5 million, he said.
The city government, led by Ko, spent NT$138 million for displays and activities for the 2016 Taipei World Design Capital event, but some display items repeatedly broke down, Lin said.
Another NT$71 million went into the 2020 Taipei Lantern Festival, which garnered bad reviews, receiving only a 28 percent satisfactory rating, the lowest ever for similar events hosted by other cities over the years, she said.
During his presentation earlier yesterday, Ko presented four guidelines for government.
First is to promote more equitable distribution of tax revenues by applying current standards on fund allocation for the six special municipalities to all other cities and counties.
Second is to push for fiscal autonomy for local governments by drafting policies that would boost tax revenues to promote more balanced development in poorer municipalities.
Third is convening national meetings to discuss tax reforms, including abolishing the entertainment tax and stamp duty, and creating an oversight mechanism to prevent the rich from not paying their fair share of taxes, including taxes on income earned abroad.
Fourth is pursuing fiscal discipline, including stopping tax collections that have resulted in large surpluses in recent years.
He said President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration have trumpeted its revenue surplus of NT$180 billion last year, which he said the central government had squandered.
Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-yu
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