Bienenbüttel – The excavators and construction cranes have been circling in the municipality of Bienenbüttel for some time. Construction is taking place in many corners: in the center of the town on the Alte Vogtei or on Lindenstrasse. In Bornsen, construction work is currently underway to renew the village.
A new multi-purpose center is being planned for this purpose, and renovation work is pending on the sewage treatment plant in Hohenbostel.
Vigorous investments are being made in Bienenbüttel – this is made clear by the budget figures for 2021, which treasurer Thomas Schmitter presented to the members of the social committee on Tuesday evening.
A minus of 1.89 million euros
The earnings budget shows income of around 10.2 million euros. This is offset by expenses of 12.08 million euros. For the coming year, a budget balance will not be achieved in the ordinary result. The shortfall amounts to around 1.89 million euros.
This minus can only be offset by the extraordinary result, which shows a surplus of 2.12 million euros. The financial budget hits with a minus of around 1.4 million euros.
4.24 million for the sewage treatment plant
The community will again invest heavily in the coming year: A total of 8.77 million euros is planned for payments. The deposits, however, amount to 5.08 million euros. This results in a loss of around 3.7 million euros.
The largest investment is the renovation of the wastewater treatment plant in Hohenbostel. An amount of around 4.24 million euros is planned here. Another 800,000 euros will flow into the new building of the multi-purpose center, 750,000 euros into the expansion of the day-care center and a total of 1.5 million euros into the purchase of land.
5.9 million euros as loans
The municipality has to take out a total of 5.9 million euros as loans for investments and investment promotion measures. The maximum amount of liquidity loans that can be taken out is set at 1.5 million.
In order to offset this sum again, the extraordinary income from the sale of building land is used. “If we didn’t have the extraordinary income, there would be the possibility of increasing taxes or reducing expenses,” explained Schmitter.
Extraordinary income is necessary
Following the presentation of the budget, the committee discussed, among other things, what chances there would be for a balanced budget – without the extraordinary income. The settlement development concept adopted by the municipality stipulates that 70 residential units should be created per year in order to keep the population stable. “The community is shrinking. From June 30, 2019 to June 30, 2020, we lost 48 residents, ”said Mayor Dr. Merlin Franke.
The creation of new residential areas such as the Kuhlfeld is of great importance in order to stop the population decline. The community is “not living on credit,” Franke said in response to a question from Heiner Scholing (Greens), who said that the extraordinary yields are not a secure perspective for the next ten years. “Maybe we’re living beyond our means,” interjected Andreas Meyer (CDU). “The library or the swimming pool make the community of Bienenbüttel attractive for residents, but they cost money.”
The more people live in the community, the more the infrastructure costs, such as the expansion of kindergartens. These extra expenses could be offset by the extraordinary income. “I am glad we are able to do that. Otherwise we would be forced to bake smaller rolls like other communities ”, said the mayor.
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