The mayor, Holger Könemann, says the numbers appearing in the new budget for the municipality of Kirchdorf are “exorbitant”. The income of 7.7 million euros is offset by expenses of 11.4 million euros – and even this deficit can easily be compensated in 2022 thanks to a substantial tax plus. 5.26 million euros more than expected will flow into the municipal coffers.
Kirchdorf – Just name the figures forecast for 2023: revenue of 7.7 million euros and expenses of 11.4 million euros in the profit balance sheet. Investments for 2.5 million euros. The financial balance foresees 8.1 million euros in payments and 13.6 million euros in payments. And it’s not about Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, but about the municipality of Kirchdorf.
The numbers are “exorbitant,” says Mayor Holger Könemann, who heads a newly elected young city council. Representatives who don’t just squander the money, they plan it carefully.
And treasurer Michael Kopecki fared even better: “It can already be seen that the annual budget for 2022 is likely to be around 5.26 million euros more positive than the projected figures, in particular due to the massive additional revenue from the tax commercial”.
The 5.26 million go to increase the reserve for surpluses, because it must serve to compensate for the projected deficit of 3,249,000 euros with which the 2023 budget closes. In purely arithmetical terms, the municipality still has 9.3 million on the high end .
Incidentally, the list of investments in 2023 is not long, but the sums are significant: one million euros for the purchase of land, 900,000 euros in funding from the Municipality for the construction of the northern relief road – another 900,000 euros each scheduled for 2024 and 2025. The barrier-free expansion of the “Volksbank” stop costs 8,000 euros, 10,000 euros are planned for the expansion of the street lighting and 200,000 euros for land consolidation measures (for which a further 600,000 euros are planned in subsequent years ). .
Municipality of Kirchdorf as lender for neighbors
The excellent financial situation of the municipality of Kirchdorf also strengthens the association of the municipality: instead of having to obtain loans and interest elsewhere, other member municipalities can borrow money from the municipality of Kirchdorf. The municipality of Varrel has already received 800,000 euros for the renovation of the crossing road, and the amount is intended for the 2021 budget for accounting purposes. In the coming year, 400,000 euros will flow as a loan to the neighboring municipality of Barenburg: the amount is intended to finance the renovation of the crossing road and the final widening of the Mohnblumenweg access road. The municipality of Barenburg has pledged to repay 100,000 euros a year, this is a requirement of the agreement.
The overview of tax revenues in 2023: Property taxes A and B amount to 450,000 euros, trade tax is expected to be 5.5 million euros, dog tax 17,500 euros. “Due to the pandemic, some commercial enterprises had asked for a reduction in commercial tax advances, but since 2021 the situation has been evolving positively again,” explains treasurer Michael Kopecki. Like the board, he knows that high incomes also mean high contributions. In 2023, therefore, 5.1 million euros will flow to the joint municipality. They have reduced the allocation by one point to 50 per cent, which saves the municipality €100,000 and leaves more money in the account. The district levy remains at 42.5 per cent, and the municipality transfers 4.3 million euros to the district.
The municipality of Kirchdorf is debt-free. Personnel costs will no longer be incurred from 2023, as the “municipal construction site management” will be transferred to the united municipality. The 2023 budget passed unanimously by the Board (Councillor Dennis Meyer was absent) and passed the plan. Another 30,000 euros, approved by the Giunta, are not foreseen: 25,000 euros will cost the construction and dismantling of the feeder for the autumn market, and will also serve to compensate for the management of the market.
“We must not be afraid of the future,” Mayor Holger Könemann explained. “We can continue to invest in the future without going into debt.”
Thanks were owed to the council colleagues, the many volunteers in the clubs and associations on site – and the administration headed by Heinrich Kammacher, mayor of the common municipality, “who are always there when we need them”.
The lamps do not stay on for long
Saving energy: this is what the Kirchdorf city council also wants. The expansion of street lighting also includes a switch to LED. To this end, an annual lump sum of 10,000 euros has been foreseen in the budget for this year and also for the years to come. The municipality has also reduced the lighting times and switched them on in a similar way to the other member municipalities of the municipality of Kirchdorf: the street lights are on from Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. until they light up, as before. “In part because of the buses, some of which are already moving,” Mayor Holger Könemann explained at the last council meeting. The novelty is that on Saturdays and Sundays the street lamps only come on from 7:00 (before: from 6:00). In the evening they turn on when it gets dark and stay on until 10.30pm (Monday to Friday). On weekends they stay active until 11.30pm. The fact that the Christmas lights in the village remained unchanged this year is due to a close vote by the council: the other half of the council would have liked to reduce the lighting, explained Könemann.
