From zero to 200 million euros in just three years: In the most extreme case, this is how the debt level of the Starnberg district develops. District treasurer Stefan Pilgram presented this worst-case scenario to the budget committee on Wednesday, thus revising the worst-case forecast he had made a year ago. This case occurs when the district also makes use of all the loans that are planned for the next few years. The per capita debt would then climb to 1,400 euros, which is many times the national average, which, according to Pilgram, is currently 177 euros.
The reason for the immense financial needs of the district are mainly large construction projects such as the extension to the district office, which is already underway, new buildings for the grammar school in Herrsching and the technical college in Starnberg as well as substantial investments in hospitals. Despite the prospect of a high mountain of debt, the committee unanimously approved the budget and financial planning for the following years, so that clear approval can also be expected in the district council in December.
The debt policy has unpleasant consequences for the communities: They have to transfer more money to Starnberg, because the district will get 1.4 million euros more from them than before, the district levy will rise to 118 million euros next year. This leaves the mayors with fewer funds to provide voluntary services themselves, for example for club or cultural funding.
But the district should also save where it can. The members of the Budget Committee took home a list of voluntary benefits on Wednesday to look for expenses that could still be canceled. The deliberations will continue in public meetings of the district committee on Wednesday, December 2, and of the district assembly on Monday, December 14.
Against the background of the austerity measures, the spending policy of the District Youth Association (KJR) continues to be criticized. In the dispute over a 60,000 euro grant, a compromise proposal by District Administrator Stefan Frey (CSU) is now on the table, which the committee unanimously approved. According to this, the KJR will receive the maximum grant this year in the amount promised; if there is anything left over, the remaining amount is carried over to the next year. At the same time, the district administrator made it clear that this money was not intended to pay permanent employees. An employee who has been employed since April will have to leave again. “The KJR must see that he gets out of the employment contract,” said Frey.
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