Budget crisis in Schwentinental: Politicians are calling for drastic cuts!

The city of Schwentinental is faced with a funding requirement of over 5.7 million euros in the draft budget for 2024, which represents an increase of 1.7 million euros compared to the previous year. Mayor Thomas Haß (independent) drew attention to increasing expenses in various areas, including transfer payments for preschool care (+1 million euros), personnel costs for city employees (+1 million euros), depreciation due to double household management (2.8 million euros) and the district levy (+0.5 million euros), such as kn-online.de reported.

Against this background, there is political agreement on the need for tough austerity measures to ensure a balanced budget situation. Possible cuts could affect areas such as the fire department, kindergartens, schools and the city library. The FDP has also called for the abolition of dual structures that have existed since the merger of Raisdorf and Klausdorf in 2008. City representative Jan Voigt sees savings potential in the high six-figure range compared to similar municipalities. The CDU was critical but open to the FDP's proposals and is examining various measures to identify savings potential and new sources of income.

Cooperation of the parties

In a joint statement by the CDU, SPD and SWG on the budget situation, an annual deficit of over four million euros was pointed out. The administrative draft for 2024 describes the financial situation as bleak and realistic and points out that increasing tasks for municipalities and cities lead to financial challenges. The delay in dealing with the draft budget by the self-government and delays in its preparation are attributed to the switch to Doppik and staff shortages, as reported by spd-schwentinental.de reported.

The main and finance committee had already unanimously decided in October 2023 to review all major investments over one million euros in order to reduce costs. This should lead to a rethinking of budget policy, while at the same time there were calls for a more restrictive spending policy and a review of all investments. Concerns are expressed that rejecting the budget does not represent a positive alternative and that it could not improve the financial situation but make budget management more difficult.