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City of Weilheim increases property taxes - CSU protests: "It's antisocial"

2023-04-03T16:08:37.547Z


Citizens of Weilheim must now pay more property tax: The city council decided to increase the assessment rates by 40 percentage points. The CSU voted unanimously against it. Others see it as a fair “solidarity contribution”.


Citizens of Weilheim must now pay more property tax: The city council decided to increase the assessment rates by 40 percentage points.

The CSU voted unanimously against it.

Others see it as a fair “solidarity contribution”.

Weilheim

– Once again, Weilheim's city council was divided last Thursday: BfW and Greens, among others, consider the higher property tax rates to be fair and reasonable.

On the other hand, they are a red rag for the CSU.

Either way: According to the city treasurer, the increase is simply unavoidable: It is "absolutely necessary to ensure the city's performance in the long term," said Christoph Scharf at the budget meeting.

Even with the increase, there is a big hole in the city budget

As reported, the city is missing a good 760,000 euros this year in the administrative budget alone - which covers the running costs.

The higher property tax revenues are even already priced in.

Without them, the minus would be 370,000 euros higher.

Because with the increase in the assessment rates by 40 percentage points each year, this additional amount comes into the city coffers.

For property tax A (agricultural land), the city is increasing the assessment rate from 340 to 380 percentage points, for property tax B (other properties) from 360 to 400. The orientation was based on the member cities of the German Association of Cities, which have 20,000 to 22,000 inhabitants , Sharp explained.

Their average assessment rate for property tax B is 401.

The people of Weilheim will have to pay that much more in the future

The chamberlain also revealed what this increase means for the residents of Weilheim: For a condominium, the property tax increases by around 15 euros per year, for a small single-family house by 43 euros, for a larger one by 57 euros and for a semi-detached house by around 33 euros.

The effects of the increase are therefore "justifiable for the individual," said Scharf.

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CSU representative Klaus Gast countered that it was “practical” to involve landowners.

But it is also "unsocial".

One should not touch the rates "because that is a further burden on our citizens".

Saika Gebauer-Merx (FDP) also thinks it is "completely unfair if we make our expensive housing even more expensive - especially for the tenants".

And for Rüdiger Imgart (AfD) it is “a wrong sign to top it off with bubbling tax revenues because we are not able to do business properly”.

"WM Miteinander" refers to potential savings

The city council does not have to turn the tax screw, but start with the expenses, demanded Ullrich Klinkicht (WM Miteinander).

For example, according to him, the city could have saved itself by having the cycling concept drawn up by a specialist office for a “mid-five-digit sum” while there was already a concept for the Weilheim Agenda 21.

And in his opinion, the city bus would also be “cheaper with a different system”.

On the other hand, according to Claus Reindl (BfW), "money is not running out because we can't keep it together, but because the tasks are getting bigger and more expensive" - ​​for example with childcare.

"These are all services that are used by our citizens," Reindl continued.

Therefore, the "slight increases" in property tax, which affect "virtually everyone in the city," are justified.

Greens defend the higher rates

There can be no question of "imposition" in this context, it was also said from the ranks of the Greens.

In view of the "mountain of necessary investments" - which the city did not choose itself, but with which it mainly meets the requirements of the ministries - it is a matter of "an increase with measure and goal", emphasized Karl-Heinz Grehl.

Increase as a "solidarity contribution" to flood protection

Horst Martin (SPD) referred in particular to the enormous costs of flood protection on the Angerbach.

The first phase of construction in Eberfing alone will cost the city of Weilheim 13.9 million euros in the coming years.

The state subsidy is far less, as it was said at the meeting, and will only be transferred after years of delay.

According to Martin, compared to other municipalities, Weilheim is “extraordinarily heavily burdened” in terms of flood protection.

Of course, many landowners in the city benefited from this, which is why he sees the higher property taxes as a "solidarity contribution from all property owners in Weilheim".

The city council finally approved the new assessment rates for property tax A and B by a majority – against the votes of the CSU/FDP as well as Imgart and Klinkicht.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-04-03

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