Somewhat surprisingly, the district's allocation power will increase for 2022 - so the municipalities will have to give up more.
In the district assembly, displeasure with financial behavior is spreading.
District
- The district council is likely to have intensive deliberations on the 2022 budget. In an interim report these days in the budget committee of the district council, the Free Voters (FW) gave a foretaste - they see savings opportunities in many places, even if the big chunks that will burden the budget in the future such as the Herrsching Gymnasium or FOS have long been decided. The overall financial situation in 2022 is a bit unusual.
2020, the first year of the pandemic with a lockdown lasting several months, will affect the so-called allocation force in 2022. These indicators describe the tax force. In the case of the municipalities, it is made up of property tax, trade tax, a share of income tax and VAT participation as well as key allocations. From the sums of the municipalities, the allocation power of the district is calculated, which in turn measures the district levy that the district has to pay to the district. The contribution power is also a measure of the payment made by the municipalities to the district (so-called district contribution). Why are the levies even there? The district performs many tasks for the communities that also have to be financed. This includes district roads, secondary schools, building authorities and much more.
District treasurer Stefan Pilgram came up with a small surprise in the budget committee: According to the latest estimate of the allocation power for 2022, it has increased - despite Corona. For the district it should amount to 247 million euros, rounded 12.3 million euros more than in 2021. The pandemic is responsible for the unexpected increase, which sounds absurd, but it is. Because: The municipalities received almost 30 million euros in compensation payments from the Free State for failures in trade tax. If you deduct that, the allocation power would have decreased. The increase of 5.2 percent is below average, in other circles it is more.
The increases are not the same in all municipalities. Gilching, Krailling and Starnberg recorded some significant increases; Municipalities that actually got through the crisis quite well and therefore received little or no compensation payments have lost reallocation power. The increase in allocation power means for the district that it will have to give 54.5 million euros to the district in the coming year, 3.5 million more than before. Pilgram also expects additional costs for the clinics because of the large-scale allowance (this is taken over by the district in the form of a deficit compensation) and for public transport (plus one million). The budget debate is due to start in committee on November 17th.
The free voters want a rigid austerity course, especially since they expect slumps in 2023 (the allocation power is then calculated on the basis of 2021). Because whether there will be trade tax equalization payments this year is open. “The federal government is still sorting itself out,” noted FW parliamentary group leader Albert Luppart, who does not expect it. Rainer Schnitzler (FW), Mayor of Pöcking, emphasized that the communities are "structurally underfunded". You would have more and more compulsory tasks to do without the costs being offset immediately. He sharply criticized the Bundestag, which had decided on a right to daycare places including liability for damages for municipalities, although it is known that there are not enough caregivers.
Schnitzler sees a need for action in the district - and so does the district council. He cheerfully decided to give the Herrsching grammar school four classes, which has not yet been approved. “The will to save is not always there,” complained Schnitzler. Examples: 120,000 euros for public relations work in the form of brochures can be “slimmed down”, there is no need for a district-wide flower decoration competition with its own event, since the municipalities also have some. The attendance fees rose from 200,000 to 232,000 euros in 2021, Schnitzler calculated and immediately waived his payment for the one-hour budget committee.
Chairman of the meeting and deputy councilor Matthias Vilsmayer (FW) only referred to resolutions on this and Pilgram also referred to attendance fees. The other points will be dealt with. Some of the positions mentioned by Schnitzler expired soon anyway. Meanwhile, Luppart emphasized that a 2500 euro item would also contribute to savings.
Rupert Monn (CSU parliamentary group) pointed out that the big posts FOS, Gymnasium Herrsching and hospitals had been decided: "These are the problems that will burden us in the future." One could have saved. Anton Maier (Greens) warned against savings, for example in culture or flower arrangements, because these are the issues that differentiate the circle from a pure administrator. Andrea Schulte-Krauss (Greens) rejected statements that the Greens could not generate any income - and that commercial areas are not alone salvific. For example, more wind turbines could also generate income. Schnitzler did not accept that: for municipalities only the trade tax is helpful, and in comparison to the area the income in the district is even high. "Let's be happy that we have so much business."
Given this prelude, the budget debate is likely to be sharp.
The district is planning investments in the coming years that will lead to a debt of more than 100 million euros - that causes many headaches.
