The city council almost drives the budget to the wall - also because of the event arena

Created: 03/12/2022, 09:00

By: Manuel Eser

Debt budget: In order to save money, several groups pleaded for cuts in staff - in opposite directions.

© Monika Skolimowska/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa

That was close: the Freising city council almost let the budget go against the wall in Thursday's meeting.

Because of the city's job plan - and the planned event arena.

Freising

– It was a long tug of war that the city councilors fought over the budget for 2023 on Thursday.

Before the budget could be voted on, which now includes new debt of 60 million euros (see box), the city councilors first had to approve the staffing plan.

And then there was a tremendous crunch.

Jens Barschdorf (FDP) complained that personnel costs had shot up from 32 million to 43 million euros since 2019.

Head of the main office, Rupert Widmann, emphasized that this increase also includes the collective bargaining agreements that are due at the beginning of 2023 and suggest a significant increase in salaries of around seven percent.

Again, the event arena plays a role

With contrary applications, the Greens and the CSU wanted to change something in the position plan.

The Greens advocated deleting the three items that are required for the preparation of the development plan as part of the planned event arena (MUCcc) at the airport.

The CSU, in turn, wanted to keep exactly these posts, but sacrifice all other jobs that are to be created in the town hall for red writing.

Mayor Tobias Eschenbacher criticized the city councilors for their voting behavior.

© Lehmann

"The three positions required for the MUCcc are located in the city, but are paid for by the investor himself," said Rudolf Schwaiger (CSU) when asked by FT.

In the other newly planned positions, on the other hand, you could save almost 365,000 euros.

"That would at least be a small contribution to consolidation." When asked by FT, Widmann said that there were a total of 21.5 new jobs - including for the new city museum (two) and and the future tourist information (1.5 ).

What both applications have in common: They fell through.

The applicants shook their heads and shortly afterwards everyone on the committee was dismayed.

Because when the position plan, as proposed by the administration, was to be decided, a majority of 20:19 voted against it.

A break in the meeting brings the turning point

The clear reaction of Mayor Tobias Eschenbacher: "You have to have so much understanding of democracy and responsibility that if your own application fails, you don't reject the entire position plan.

So we cannot adopt the budget and actually end the session with it.”

Susanne Günther (Greens) wanted to drop the jobs for the planned arena.

© Claudia Puchta

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The demolition was prevented by the Greens, who requested a break in the session.

Ten minutes and a few cigarettes later, the council finally found a way out at the last minute.

Susanne Günther (Greens) formulated a “compromise proposal”: her parliamentary group could vote for the position plan if an urban development contract first stipulates the assumption of the personnel costs incurred in connection with the planning for the event arena – including the payment modalities and a guarantee.

The motion passed with 27:12 votes.

Not all agreeing household

However, some refused to approve the overall budget: the CSU parliamentary group, Jens Barschdorf (FDP) and Richard Paukner (AfD).

"I can't get used to the fact that we can't handle our day-to-day business on our own," said Schwaiger.

He misses the will to save.

Barschdorf also emphasized that he could not agree to 60 million euros in new debt.

Rudolf Schwaiger (CSU) lacked the will to save in view of the large debt burden.

© Archive

The vast majority (33:6) managed to get the budget dry after almost four hours of debating numbers.

Some councils have already agreed to tax and fee increases for themselves and the population for the coming year.

Foray through the 2023 budget: Almost a quarter of the costs will be absorbed by loans

The municipal budget for the coming year has a total volume of around 255 million euros.

The volume of the administrative budget is 145 million euros, that of the asset budget is 110 million euros.

In order to balance the budget, the city has to factor in new debt of 60 million euros.

In other words, if all items of expenditure that are included in the calculation are due, almost a quarter of all costs would be covered by loans.

Then the total debt of the city at the end of 2023 would be around 160 million euros.

In addition, 19.6 million euros from the property budget must be added to the administrative budget.

46 million euros flow into building construction measures

The largest source of income is income and sales tax, which is estimated at 49.3 million euros.

In second place is trade tax, which at a calculated 27.4 million euros is well below the average of the pre-Corona years.

The expenses include 43 million euros for staff salaries.

46 million euros flow into building construction projects, 21.8 million euros into civil engineering measures.

The former includes the expansion of the Vötting elementary school (19.4 million euros) and the continuation of the Asam renovation (19 million euros).

In terms of civil engineering, the overhead line cost 5.5 million euros and the redesign of the city center 5.3 million euros.

(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)

In a rare case of unanimity at Thursday's session, the city council demonstrated an increase in the second-home tax that the finance committee had previously recommended.

As reported, the rate is to be raised from 10 to 15 percent.

It's not a huge gain: Treasurer Johannes Hutter expects additional income of around 72,500 euros.