In the future, local governments will be able to sell stocks or shared properties they own to a special purpose company (SPC) by private contract. Additionally, when transferring closed schools owned by provincial and municipal offices of education, they can apply the officially announced land value and the appraisal value instead of the acquisition price.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 6th that the amendment to the enforcement decree of the local government property and goods management law containing these details will be promulgated and enforced on the 7th.
This amendment to the enforcement decree is designed to address regional extinction and support balanced development between regions by improving the utilization requirements and price standards of local government property.
First, regulations have been established that allow local governments to sell stocks they hold to SPCs by private contract in the regional revitalization investment funds business, which is being promoted to respond to the risk of local extinction. This is intended to allow private investors to participate in the investment funds business securely without concerns over management rights. Additionally, it allows local governments to sell shared land to SPCs by private contract.
Local governments will also improve the price standards to utilize closed school properties owned by provincial and municipal offices of education. Previously, provincial and municipal governments sought to transfer closed school properties from educational offices for use as community facilities, but the current local government property regulations mandated transfers only at the acquisition price. Consequently, the acquisition price was significantly lower than the current market price, complicating negotiations between provincial and municipal governments and the educational offices.
Thus, the criteria have been relaxed to allow the use of officially announced land values or appraisal values in addition to the acquisition price.
In addition, the state and local governments will be able to exchange property under the same conditions. Currently, when exchanging public property based on appraised value, the state only requires one appraised value. However, local governments needed more than one appraised value, leading to excessive budget expenditure for their appraisals. In the future, local governments will also be able to exchange local government property with the state or other local governments using a single appraised value.
Han Soon-gi, director general of the Bureau of Local Government Finance and Economy at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "We will continue to support the effective and proactive utilization of local government property for the benefit of the regions and residents."