Seoul seeks to impose rain tax

Seoul City is considering imposing a German-style rain tax on landowners based on the amount of rain water that flows into storm drains.

The municipal authorities said Tuesday that it will hold a discussion today at the Seoul Museum of History to gather opinion from professionals and laymen on how to impose such a tax.

The German-style rain tax is a levy imposed on land with impervious surfaces. It is calculated in proportion to the total impervious surface area on property that causes rain water to flow into storm drains.

If more rain water can penetrate underground or be used for alternative purposes, the rain tax will be subsequently reduced.

This system, otherwise called “rain harvesting” method, is aimed at saving more rain water for renewable usage. Moreover, if there is a smaller runoff of rain water, smaller storm outlets are sufficient, saving construction and maintenance costs.

Currently, Seoul imposes sewage tax on land owners according to the amount of waste water they discharge.

The city is considering this type of rain tax to reduce damage caused by rain water in low-lying areas.

After the heavy downpours that recently hit the nation, lowland areas were flooded with rain water that flowed down from higher land. The problem caused significant damage across such regions.

The total area of impervious surface has significantly increased over the past 50 years due to rapid urbanization, increasing from 7.8 percent in 1962 to 47.7 percent in 2010.

“Nothing is finalized yet. We need to go into the details at the discussion Wednesday. Noted experts in the field and local citizens will participate in the meeting,” a city official said.

“Experts will present foreign cases and the effects of the rain tax. We hope many will participate to give their opinions,” he added.

The city plans to hold such discussion forums several more times to create a concrete policy to implement the rain tax. <The Korea Times/Yun Suh-young>

news@theasian.asia