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Budget drama in Halle: City council rejects budget despite compromise!
The finance committee in Halle rejected the budget. The debate is dominated by arguments about cuts in culture and sport.
Budget drama in Halle: City council rejects budget despite compromise!
A dramatic blow for the city of Halle! After two hours of heated debate, the city council's finance committee rejected next year's budget in a deadlock. With only three votes for the budget and a complete rejection by the AfD, which is the strongest force in the city council, the future of the budget remains uncertain. Five councilors abstained, further complicating the situation.
Although the city council factions had developed a promising compromise proposal that envisaged the reversal of all cuts to culture and sport, this was not enough. Tom Wolter from Mitbürger emphasized that such a joint application in this form was unprecedented. But the amendment can only take effect if the general budget is approved. The abstentions from the Left, Mitbürger/Volt, CDU and FDP indicate that they wanted to introduce further amendments, but these did not receive the necessary majority.
Decision is imminent
The final decision on the budget will be made by the city council next week. Before that, there will be meetings of the individual political groups on Monday, where the focus will be on the rejection in the Finance Committee and the future of the budget. In recent months, the city administration has repeatedly tried to increase daycare fees in order to achieve the planned savings of 3.8 million euros. The Left and the SPD are now calling for this passage to be deleted and alternative financing options to be found.
The CDU is demanding 100,000 euros more for the Handel Festival in order to increase acceptance in the city. However, head of the cultural department Judith Marquardt warns of the consequences of this demand, as it could endanger other cultural events. The AfD, on the other hand, would like to cut funding for bicycle leasing and new bicycle racks and instead set up a security service for the area behind the Maritim Hotel. Discussions are heated and the future of the budget remains uncertain!