Songjiang's finances ensure the bottom line of "three guarantees" and spend money where it counts
Affected by multiple factors, including external and internal factors, the finances of Songjiang District have been in a tight balance in recent years. In order to effectively ensure the bottom line of "three guarantees" and strengthen the construction of basic, inclusive and bottom-line livelihood, the Songjiang District Finance Bureau has coordinated financial funds, optimized the expenditure structure, and taken multiple measures to enhance the financial guarantee capacity and ensure the smooth operation of the finances.
With tower cranes everywhere and machinery roaring, the construction of the Songjiang Branch of the Second Affiliated High School of East China Normal University is in full swing in Jiuting Town. The Songjiang Branch of the Second Affiliated High School of East China Normal University covers an area of about 110 acres, with a total investment of over 1.07 billion yuan. After completion, the project will be run in accordance with the standards of Shanghai Experimental Demonstration High School, making up for the shortcomings of high school resources in the eastern part of Songjiang, and giving full play to the advantages of scientific and technological innovation of East China Normal University to create a cradle for high-tech talents.
Having access to education is the most basic livelihood, and investment in education is also the top priority of the "three guarantees" investment. "The first is to support the introduction of high-quality educational resources in the city. From 2021 to 2024, Songjiang District will build and renovate 53 schools, including the Second Affiliated High School of East China Normal University and Shanghai Experimental School. First-class educational resources will be introduced to Songjiang." Lou Lixiao, deputy director of the Songjiang District Finance Bureau, introduced that on the other hand, the overall investment in education will be increased. From 2021 to 2023, the cumulative investment in education will be 21.279 billion yuan, with an average annual increase of 16.9%. The general public budget for education in 2024 is 7.725 billion yuan. According to statistics, Songjiang District's education funding in 2023 ranked third in the city, second only to Pudong and Minhang. In 2023, the per capita funding increase for compulsory education reached 7.1%, ranking second in the city.
The development of social livelihood undertakings such as medical care, social security, and housing security is also an important direction of the "three guarantees". In recent years, the district finance has actively raised financial resources to give priority support to the introduction of high-quality medical service resources. "Support well-known municipal hospitals to settle in Songjiang, support the establishment of the Songjiang Institute of Medicine of Jiaotong University, and build a new Songjiang Hospital affiliated to the University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and other projects," Lou Lixiao introduced. At the same time, build good medical and health infrastructure at home. Since 2021, 6 new social health service centers have been built in the newly established Jiuliting and Guangfulin streets, Daju area and Pu'nan area to solve the problem of medical consultation in the community. Promote the renovation and expansion of the Songjiang Hospital of Jiaotong University School of Medicine to enhance the medical service capabilities of the district.
In addition, in terms of social security, the focus is on ensuring the livelihood expenditures of departments such as human resources and social security, civil affairs, veterans, the Disabled Persons' Federation, medical insurance, and the Red Cross, with an annual cumulative investment of nearly 1.6 billion yuan. In terms of housing security, since the 14th Five-Year Plan, the district's finance has allocated a total of 2.9 billion yuan in special funds for demolition and relocation subsidies and resettlement housing construction within the scope of old city renovation, actively promoting urban renewal.
In recent years, with the construction of new cities and the introduction of population, the construction of livelihood infrastructure such as education and health, and the increase in staffing of teachers, doctors, etc., the scale of basic expenditures has expanded significantly. In order to balance the overall budget, Lou Lixiao said that while carefully calculating and spending money on the cutting edge and critical areas, we should also actively do "subtraction" for non-rigid and non-emergency expenditures. In 2024, non-rigid and non-emergency expenditures will be reduced by 1.3 to 1.4 billion yuan compared with 2021 and 2022. The total amount of information technology projects will be controlled; in principle, no new construction and upgrading project budgets will be arranged for urban repair and maintenance projects, and upgrading projects will be postponed; "three public" expenses will be strictly controlled.
The more we face financial constraints, the more we need to manage and dispatch with precision. While doing a good job of "addition and subtraction" in fiscal expenditure, maintaining and reducing it, the district's finances also continue to promote fiscal reform and strengthen fiscal management.
In the case of slowing income growth, the first thing to solve is the problem of where the money comes from. "The district finance department promptly analyzes the income situation and studies ways to strengthen income organization. We will continue to optimize the business environment, give full play to the functions of the district's industrial development fund service platform, implement policy-based financing guarantees and fiscal interest and fee subsidies, and maintain the stability of the tax base of key financial sources." Lou Lixiao introduced that at the same time, we will comprehensively promote cost budget performance management and continuously improve the efficiency of fiscal funds. In 2023, we will pilot cost budget performance management and select 6 pilot projects, with a double-digit reduction based on the 2022 expenditure scale.
In May 2024, the Songjiang District Finance Bureau issued the "Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Cost Budget Performance Management in Songjiang District", requiring that budget applications be asked about costs, budget arrangements be checked for costs, budget execution be controlled for costs, and budget completion be evaluated for costs, to help deepen the reform of budget performance management and improve the efficiency of financial funds in Songjiang District.
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