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The 1% Support Scheme in Ichikawa City

Learning points

Initially, the 1% scheme was introduced to increase citizens` motivation to pay taxes. The reason citizens were asked to state their tax number while casting their vote was to make people aware of how much they were paying and where the money was going. As Ichikawa City is currently in the process of updating the 1% scheme, this requirement, which creates a barrier to participation, will now be reevaluated.

As mentioned above, interest from other municipalities was particularly strong during the early years after Ichikawa City implemented this program. Eight other municipalities were identified as having schemes similar to the 1% scheme. In 2009 there was a first Summit, where these municipalities gathered to share their experiences. The mayor who initiated the program and the managers of departments participated in this summit. The Summit has now become annual - this year it will be held in Osaka in September 2014 as an open forum

A proposal to increase the percentage so that it becomes higher than 1% of tax is now being studied. This would expand the support services provided by the local government to NPO groups. In this way, more community development projects could be undertaken and more NPOs could benefit from the programme.

About this case study
Main Contact

Rosario Laratta, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

Meiji University, Tokyo

Email: rlaratta@meiji.ac.jp

Rosario Laratta wrote this case study in August 2014.

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