Utilization of Forest Environment Transfer Tax in Municipalities:

Settlement Data Analysis on the National Scale

Abstract

The Forest Environment Transfer Tax (FETT), funded by the Forest Environment Tax, is allocated to local governments in Japan. Although each municipality is required to publish its FETT financial settlement reports, nationwide studies comparing adherence remain limited, with only aggregated data available. This study analyzed FETT settlement data from all municipalities between 2019 and 2022 to identify overarching trends, focusing on budget execution rates and fund usage. Execution rates were significantly higher in municipalities that had assigned forestry officers, had no specific liaison committee or were located within prefectures that collected a local forest tax. Regarding fund usage, many municipalities emphasized forest maintenance. However, finer expenditure classifications are necessary to assess more accurate municipal fund allocation policies based on these settlement data. Although this study streamlines the analytical elements, this approach, which relies on annual settlement data―serves as a valuable indicator of municipal forest administration.