Wesseling –
“With this budget, and ideally for the households of the coming years, we have to tackle a paradigm shift in setting up, advising and managing,” said chamberlain Karolin Beloch when bringing the budget to the city council for 2021 Send household advice.
Because the city has to plan with a minus of over 4 million euros.
The deficit in the outcome plan is, however, much smaller than it could be. For municipal budgets in 2021, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has created the opportunity to exclude the additional expenditure and the reduced income that the corona pandemic brought with it in the result plan, so that the cities do not end up crashing into budget security or even into the emergency budget.
Without this option, the budget would be in the red with almost 54 million euros!
This solution only reduces the more than tense situation in the outcome plan. Either way, the cities don’t have the money in their city pockets and so it is missing from the financial plan.
For the first time since 2010, the city of Wesseling will again take out investment loans amounting to 30 million euros to cover the financial plan.
Against the background of the pandemic and the associated slump in income, the development for the coming years of medium-term financial planning cannot yet be finally foreseen. Because the municipal budget in Wesseling is primarily dependent on trade taxes. In recent years, the city had received an average of around 60 million euros in business taxes.
For 2021 there is now only an estimated 12.1 million euros in the budget. Since, for example, the support for upbringing and the costs of day care are constantly increasing, the lowering of the district levy cannot turn the overall calculation of transfer expenses decisively into a positive one.
“We have to acquire funding wherever possible. That also means, “said the chamberlain,” that we have to think and plan for the long term. Applying for funding takes time. This is a challenge that administration and politics face together and that we must master together. That will not be easy. Because from the past few years we are used to being able to fulfill our own wishes and those of the population outside of schedule. “
In addition, in her household speech, the chamberlain urgently advised reducing consumption, i.e. ongoing administrative costs, and at the same time investing more wisely. That means: building more new things, mending less old things. Because investments would create value on the balance sheet. On the other hand, ongoing administration costs are spent and gone.
The largest investment measures planned for 2021 are:
– The renovation of the school center – in particular the high school and the main school building for 25 million euros;
– New daycare center at the indoor garden pool for 6.8 million euros;
– Expansion of the primary schools for 6.29 million euros;
– Construction of scientific rooms in the school center for 4.2 million euros;
– Construction of the changing building at the Urfeld sports field for EUR 1.94 million.
Tax increases are not foreseen in the current draft budget. If the income situation continues to develop in this way, this would also have to be taken into account for the following years, said the chamberlain. In an inter-communal comparison within the Rhein-Erft district, Wesseling is in the lower range with the assessment rates for both property tax and trade tax.
For the budget deliberations, the Chamber of Commerce gives the parliamentary groups a request: “For all suggestions that you bring to the budget deliberations, the administration asks for a cover proposal from the budget that we have presented to you today.”
After the treasurer has brought in the budget, the discussions in the specialist committees begin. If these expire without postponement, the Council will adopt the budget on May 4th. Until then, the provisional housekeeping applies. This means that the city is only allowed to spend money on mandatory services, not on voluntary services.
Even in times of lockdown, citizens of course have the opportunity to view the draft budget in the town hall. The prerequisite for this is an appointment that can be made on 02236 701-563 or [email protected]. The draft budget can also be viewed at www.wesseling.de and is linked directly to the home page
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