Few were that quick: Kreischa was one of the first communities in the district to decide on a budget for the new calendar year. Once the paper is approved by the local authority, new investments and other expenses can be made. These are the most important cornerstones.
The income: Slight minus in trade tax
Kreischa is expecting income of a good 8.6 million euros this year from taxes, state subsidies for childcare, rents, profit sharing and the like. That is just a little below the sums of previous years. The chamberlain has taken into account slight losses in terms of trade tax, income tax and sales tax.
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The AfD parliamentary group in the local council found the calculation far too optimistic. “In 2020 we had planned trade tax of 1.8 million euros, now despite the pandemic it is 1.5 million euros – that is far too high. Likewise, income tax revenues of 1.7 million euros,” said Milko Schurzky.
Mayor Frank Schöning (Free Citizens’ Representation) countered that out of around 400 traders in Kreischa, only 180 companies are actually subject to trade tax. “And these are in good shape despite the pandemic. We can see that from the tax prepayments,” said Schöning. Therefore one only counts with a slight minus.
The expenses: personnel expensive, children too
The municipality plans to spend 9.2 million euros this year. The largest item make up the salary payments – 2.2 million euros alone. In second place are the operating expenses for childcare. They are estimated at 1.8 million euros. Then there are the costs for the child minders, so another 134,000 euros.
The maintenance of trees, parks and playgrounds cost 512,000 euros. The management of buildings and land costs 326,000 euros. Kreischa includes 176,500 euros for street maintenance. Investments are not yet included in the amounts – they are listed separately.
The Kreischa town hall is not expecting major tax shortfalls this year, but the budget is more cautious than in the past. © Egbert Kamprath
The investments: new roads, new school
The investment plan for Kreischa this year is around 2.9 million euros. The largest item is road construction in the Gombsen district, with a further 1.5 million euros. Baumschulenstrasse is currently being thoroughly renovated. The expansion of Kreischaer Straße is to start in the second half of the year.
This is related to the construction of the new bus stops on Dresdner Straße. 350,000 euros are planned for this.
The fire stations in Kreischa and Saida also need to be expanded. This year, at least for Kreischa, planning should begin, says Mayor Schöning. For the time being, 90,000 euros are included for the cultivation. In addition, the community would like to build another extinguishing water reservoir in a district and is reckoning with 130,000 euros for the cistern.
The biggest investment of all, however, is the new construction of the school campus with its own building for the elementary school, new sports halls and fields as well as the renovation of the old school building on Kirchweg. The municipality wants to advance the planning this year and has earmarked 625,000 euros for this.
The Debt: Deficit and Borrowing Planned
The biggest mano of the budget is the difference between income and expenditure. After deducting all depreciation, the deficit is 410,000 euros. “The budget can only be balanced with the help of the reserves,” Schöning explained to the local councils when asked. These reserves totaled 1.7 million euros at the end of 2018. There are no newer figures yet. In the municipal administration, however, it is assumed that this reserve has not decreased.
In addition, the investment budget also shows a gap of 1.8 million euros. This is to be closed, among other things, with the taking of loans. For a project like the new school building, this is essential anyway, according to the administration.
AfD man Schurzky criticized it sharply. “Today we’re talking about 20 million for the new school building, maybe it will be 40 million. Who knows? We risk a gigantic additional debt,” he said. The fact is, at the end of 2018, the Kreischaers’ per capita debt was 341 euros. In 2019 it was 308 euros. Now the mountain of debt is rising again: in 2020 it was 495 euros.
Read more news from Freital and the surrounding area here.
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