District - Great resentment in the district committee: In the first draft budget for 2022, a district levy of 53 percent is planned - two points more than 2021. One reason for this is the expenditure due to the corona pandemic in the partial budget of the health department, explained district treasurer Thomas Markthaler. However, Corona is also the reason for less tax income in the municipalities. They can hardly afford higher taxes to the district. The second reason for the higher district levy is the increased district levy, which costs the district 1.5 million euros more.
In the preliminary planning, the budget for results closes at just under one million euros and is thus balanced.
The final balance of financial resources in 2022 is planned at 20 million euros.
Currently they have 70 million euros "in the account", so Markthaler.
Mainly tied up funds in it.
Eleven million euros of this are freely available.
If there are almost 40 million debts in the budget at the end of 2021, these will decrease slightly to 36.8 million according to the 2022 budget, but will increase to 112 million by 2025 according to the financial plan - which will make borrowing necessary from 2023: 9.5 million euros in 2023, 40 million for 2024 and again just under 36 million in 2025. “But there is also political will behind it,” emphasized Markthaler: the measures already decided in the district council, such as school renovations.
Overall, the allocation power increases by 2.7 percent - compared to other districts in Bavaria with an average of eight percent increase, extremely little.
The district levy of 53 percent leads to additional income of 5.78 million euros for the district compared to the previous district levy of 51 percent.
One percent of the district levy corresponds to 1.755 million euros.
Holger Kramer (Greens) noted that expenses due to the corona pandemic would be reimbursed by the state.
That does not apply to the expenses that one has for “keeping stocks of the pandemic center”, for the costs of the test track or even for hiring the CTT staff, countered the chamberlain.
However, the relevant partial budget of the health department will not be negotiated until the committee meeting in two weeks' time.
Helga Gall (Greens) asked why one could not expect less than the previously planned amount of 20 million euros, for example 16 million euros, with an end-of-life balance of funds - but the district levy could be set lower.
A reduction will be “atone” in the following year, if the district levy then has to be increased by three points, said Markthaler.
Otherwise there is a risk that the budget will no longer be approved due to a minus in the earnings budget.
Green politician Renate Standfest wanted to know how “carefully” the approaches are calculated.
So far, at the end of the year, the result has always been better than planned.
But that is "financing at the expense of the municipalities" through the district levy.
"We would not have needed the increase in the levy like this".
Lord Mayor Doris Baumgartl also expressed clear displeasure in view of the high district levy. Income and expenditure would also have to match with the municipalities. The city's tax revenue fell by 13 million euros in 2020 and this year is no different. The planned increase in the district levy eats up the city's entire trade tax income. “I don't know where to get the money from.” An objection that most of the councilors present clearly agreed with.
City Councilor Felix Bredschneijder (SPD) also warned that the high liquidity, especially the high amount of funds tied up for planned construction work, should be viewed critically due to the negative interest rates incurred. “It's a tight program. We will not be able to spend some of it ”, as experience has shown that some measures have been delayed and have already been delayed. The development plan for the new branch of the district office on Penzinger Feld will not be ready until the end of 2022 at the earliest. And the sum for the purchase of the property will only then be due - for which, however, over a million euros were already set in the budget last year. The head of the structural engineering department, Christian Kusch, generally emphasized that necessary measures - and not least of all also decided by the district council - should not be “too tight”.
A closed meeting of the district committee took place prior to the first budget consultation.
At just over an hour, it was already taking much longer than planned.
The next district committee meets in two weeks.
Then the second half of the sub-households are presented and then a recommendation is made to the district council - or not.