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Only in the city of Sakai in the entire country, citizens decide how to use it and ask for donations.
December 7, 2020 11:30 am
Donations Citizen Participation System in Sakai City, Fukui Prefecture
At the end of November, Sakai City, Fukui Prefecture, is forecasting a record 1.4 billion yen for hometown tax payments this year, topping 880 million yen in fiscal 2019. Based on the The country’s only “citizen participation donation system” in which citizens decide how to use it, solicit donations and market it, more than 700 rewarding items and active public relations activities create a virtuous circle and donate. It is going up and back to citizen services.
Since 2008, the city has solicited the use of donations from citizens and has decided to create a company to solicit donations through the “Citizen Donations Participation Fund Review Committee” of nine people, including four private citizens. In the twelfth year, citizens have proposed to hold an outdoor music festival for 10,000 people, which is scheduled to be held at Shibasei World in 2009.
The commercial scale using donations through fiscal 2003 remained at an average of 3 million yen. The amount of donations increased to 450 million yen in a tranche with the introduction of gifts in 2005. Along with this, the scale of the business has expanded to 100 million yen since fiscal year 2018.
On Japan’s largest portal, “Furusato Choice,” the city clearly indicates the target number and achievement rate of projects using donations, and what they are having trouble with. This is a characteristic that differentiates it from other local governments.
Currently, we are soliciting donations by presenting 10 projects such as ▽ smart agriculture ▽ creation of an educational environment with artificial intelligence robots ▽ recruitment of foreigners in tourist areas ▽ development of joint workspaces using empty stores.
So far donors have said, “The use is concrete and you can sympathize with it.” The City’s Planning and Information Division said, “Many donors are convinced of the purpose of the use. This sense of security resonates in my heart.”
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Half of the donations are concentrated in November and December of each year. Since this year’s trend was about 1.5 times that of the previous year, the supplemental budget for December is expected to increase by 200 million yen from the beginning to 1.4 billion yen, and reward expenditures of 98 have been recorded. million yen.
Starting in April, in addition to “Furusato Choice”, as part of strengthening public relations for reward items that collect rich local resources such as sweet shrimp and Koshihikari, we will collaborate with Otsuya (Fukui City), which develops convenience stores, etc. . Behind the growth in giving is the beginning.
The city has been strategically promoting its local tax payment business. For the first time in Japan, a service was started allowing donors to receive rewards on the spot at the city’s antenna shop in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo. This is the first system in Japan that allows automatic continuation of donations through credit settlement. The project to solicit the continued support of castle fans to create the bustle of Maruoka Castle, which is intended to be designated as a national treasure, received the National Union of Local Governments Award.
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The amount of donations to Sakai City has been the highest for three consecutive years since 2005 by municipality in the three Hokuriku prefectures, leading to the promotion of local industries and job creation. Keiji Hasegawa (59), Chairman of the Citizen Donations Participation Fund Review Committee, said: “In order to make effective use of the collected hearts (donations), we are seriously discussing the feasibility and continuity and deciding how to use them.”
The unique “strengths” of the city of Sakai are the two wheels of a citizen participation system that clearly decides the purpose of use and solicits donations, and a reward product that makes use of regional characteristics that incorporate experiences as collaborative products in collaboration with producers and fishing in the sea. ..
The problem is that the number of proposals from citizens is flat at around 30 per year. President Hasegawa said, “I would like many citizens to learn about the system and get ideas for choosing a better project that will lead to the solution of local problems. By communicating the results of the project to donors, Sakai City fans will lead to the expansion “.
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