Gyeonggi Province to Add 19 Firefighting Vehicles Using Its Own Budget Despite Fire Safety Grant Tax Cut

Gyeonggi Province is strengthening its firefighting equipment despite a reduction in the Fire Safety Grant Tax, including by investing an additional 2.23 billion won from its own budget to purchase 19 fire trucks.

In a written briefing on October 19, Gyeonggi Province spokesperson Hong Eungwang explained the facts, saying, "The claim that the budget for purchasing fire trucks was cut by 2.65 billion won fails to take into account both the budget adjustment following the reduction in the Fire Safety Grant Tax and the province's use of its own funds."

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety had earlier set Gyeonggi Province's Fire Safety Grant Tax for this year at 35.2 billion won. This is 5.7 billion won less than the 40.9 billion won the province had initially expected.

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

As a result, Gyeonggi Province would have had to cut 4.88 billion won from its fire truck purchase budget. However, reflecting a request from the Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters, it allocated 2.23 billion won from its own budget in the second supplementary budget. This reduced the final budget cut to 2.65 billion won.

The provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters used the additional funds to purchase two aerial ladder trucks and three field command vehicles, and plans to purchase 14 more vehicles, including water tankers. A total of 19 fire trucks are therefore set to be purchased.

Gyeonggi Province said that claims that a 2.65 billion won cut to the fire truck purchase budget made it impossible to buy 25 vehicles should be considered alongside the reasons for the budget reduction and the fact that the province allocated its own funds.

Spokesperson Hong said, "The province's efforts to strengthen firefighting equipment by investing its own funds despite difficult fiscal conditions should not be used as a tool for political infighting. We will continue to strengthen our support to enhance firefighters' ability to respond in the field."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.