Mayor’s Remarks:
1. Although Southern Taiwan has received little rainfall recently, we must remain vigilant in preventing floods while doing our best to minimize the economic impact of drought- and flood-prevention work. The monsoon season starts in May. Hopefully, this will ease the water shortage in Tainan somewhat. Concerned departments should complete dredging work ahead of time to prevent the streets and downtown from becoming flooded.
2. The city council will soon begin its regular meeting. I ask contact persons from concerned departments to fulfill their duties and communicate municipal policies to council members. I must also remind our colleagues to maintain impartiality, integrity, and transparency while prioritizing the interests of our citizens.
Announcements
The Social Affairs Bureau’s report on its initiatives (refer to written sources for details)
Decision: Approved for reference filing.
Mayor’s Remarks:
(1) Citizens and public representatives have provided feedback concerning national health insurance subsidies for seniors. Although the municipal government does not have adequate funding, it will do its best to implement measures that benefit citizens. The projected demand for national health subsidies for seniors is quite significant. Four years ago, the municipal government lowered house taxes, which cut municipal income by approximately NTD $2.1 billion per year, which is equivalent to about NTD $10 billion over four years. However, the number of citizens aged 65 and above and the number of indigenous citizens older than 55 is now at 337,000. This number will soon surpass 340,000. After deducting the budget that the Social Affairs Bureau had already laid aside for middle- to low-income households, we are still around NTD $2.8 short of meeting the NTD $3.4 billion goal of national health insurance subsidies for seniors. Nonetheless, we will work on securing such funding.
(2) National health insurance subsidies for seniors will be rolled out starting in July of this year (2023). Minus the NTD $1 billion that we have already budgeted for national health insurance, we are still NTD $400 million short. This shortage will first be rectified using the Social Affairs Bureau’s social benefit budget. Should a shortage remain, we will then consider leveraging the secondary reserve fund. The real challenge is next year’s budgeting. The municipal government will verify the budgeting details for the coming year, and we hope to gain the support of council members.