A push to hand every Taipei resident NT$20,000 in cash from the city's budget surplus was put on hold, leaving residents waiting for money that may never come.

• DPP councillors formally proposed the city top up the central government's planned NT$10,000 handout with NT$20,000 of its own.
• The proposal echoes Mayor Chiang Wan-an's own line that NT$10,000 is not enough and the figure should be doubled.
• Backers point to Taipei's accumulated surplus of over NT$50 billion, enough to give each of the city's 2.4 million residents more than NT$23,000 without borrowing.
• KMT councillor Chin Hui-chu objected, and under council practice a single objection is enough to shelve a first reading.
• She argued the city's finances are less secure than they look: tax allocation revenue is up, but central government subsidies are being cut, and the city already rejected a nearly identical proposal for a larger sum last time.

Outlook: The handout question is likely to resurface when the mayor faces councillors' questions at his scheduled report, but city hall has shown no sign of backing it.