반년 만에 멈췄던 ‘인천이음’ 재개…인천시, 17조원 규모 2차 추경 편성

Incheon city has decided to restart the long-dormant Incheon Inn Card (regional love product card) with a 17.2 billion won second supplemental budget. However, the 3.5 billion won in fixed and rigid expenses, which were not reflected in this year's budget, were not included in the supplemental budget. At a press conference on the 24th at the Incheon City Hall briefing room, Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae announced that the supplemental budget, which increased by 7.3% from the original 15.8 billion won, now stands at 17.2 billion won.

The core of the second supplemental budget is securing the Incheon Inn cashback budget, which was halted due to budget shortfalls in July. The Incheon city will allocate 779 billion won for the Incheon Inn card, with a monthly limit of 50,000 won for businesses with monthly sales of 30 million won or less. Starting from September 21st, which includes the Chuseok holiday, the cashback limit will be increased to 100,000 won for the same month.

Mayor Park Chan-dae stated, "I have carefully considered the matter and determined the size that the budget can bear and will have lasting effects. The citizens have patiently waited for a long time, so we will immediately implement the Incheon Inn cashback when the municipal assembly passes it." Additionally, 127 billion won will be allocated for four projects supporting pregnancy preparation to postpartum recovery and early childcare, 279 billion won to alleviate transportation burdens, 66 billion won for the Incheon Baby Da Park, and 2,870 billion won for urgent social needs.

The increased budget will be financed through measures such as budget restructuring for large-scale revenue, an additional 2.874 billion won from government assistance, 3.74 billion won in non-tax revenues, and the remaining 800 billion won in the unified management fund. The 1,064 billion won in fixed and rigid expenses, including the Incheon Education Office's pledged transfer funds (362 billion won from last year's settlement) and local government transfer funds (447 billion won from last year's settlement), were not included in the supplemental budget.

These funds will likely be reflected in the next year's main budget, but the Incheon Education Office and local governments expect them to be included in this year's budget. The Incheon City will consider finalizing and including these funds in either the final supplemental budget this year or the next year's budget.