No savings are made on the old people's afternoon at the settlers' festival

Created: 01/26/2022, 17:16

By: Thomas Leichsenring

Until the budget is passed, the Karlsfeld municipal councils will still have to turn over a few euros.

© Daniel Karmann / dpa

Budget deliberations have begun in Karlsfeld, and on Tuesday evening it became very clear in the main and finance committee of the municipal council what this means: savings are urgently needed.

Karlsfeld – The budget draft of the Treasury only contains “what is really necessary”, said Mayor Stefan Kolbe, everything “Nice to have was deleted”.

Nice to have - roughly translated as: "It would be nice to have that." Is the traditional old people's afternoon at the settlers' festival part of this? No, stressed Heike Miebach from the Greens. The old people's afternoon should not be canceled (“we don't want to take away the chickens from the elderly”), but one has to think about whether costs can be saved at this event as well; for example by raising the age limit to 67 years. So far, the municipality has invited all women and men over the age of 65 to the senior citizens' afternoon.

Miebach's proposal was not well received by the other factions.

The old people's afternoon is "very successful in its current form," said Mayor Kolbe.

Ursula Weber, CSU municipal councilor and senior citizens' officer in the community, made a similar statement.

She was also surprised, Weber continued, that this proposal came from the ranks of the Greens.

"You've never been there," Weber said to Miebach.

The Greens have only been on the municipal council since 2020, but in 2020 and 2021 the settlers' festival was canceled due to the corona.

Ultimately, however, Miebach and her parliamentary colleague Janine Rößler-Huras were persuaded.

The committee decided unanimously: The senior citizens' afternoon at the settlers' festival will remain as it is.

The municipality of Karlsfeld undoubtedly has an investment backlog.

Renovation measures at the building yard, community center, homeless shelter and many streets are actually pending.

Above all, however, this applies to the middle school and the triple sports hall on Krenmoosstraße.

According to Mayor Kolbe, these two renovation cases are “priority one”.

On top of that, the indoor pool is to be renovated – a project worth millions.

As for the other necessary refurbishments, it's a question of money.

Marco Mühlenhoff, who is responsible for building management at the municipality, made this clear: "We will not be able to implement everything for financial reasons." What is done and what is not is now "a political decision".

Until the 60 million budget for 2022 is passed in a few weeks, the Karlsfeld municipal councils will still have to turn over a few euros.

Because on the income side there is hardly anything that can be done Kolbe: "We have exhausted all measures with taxes and fees."

New chairs in the Bürgerhaus hall would undoubtedly be "nice to have".

But their purchase, which has been repeatedly postponed in recent years, is no longer even in the draft budget.

The cash-strapped municipality simply does not have the 200,000 euros for new chairs.