City Council adopts third package of measures to tackle the coronavirus pandemic

The City Council today approved the third package of measures jointly submitted by the Lord Mayor and the mayors to deal with the coronavirus pandemic in the city. It describes the financial implications and authorises additional funding.

The city is currently in the middle of the second wave of the pandemic, which is having an impact on economic and social life. The negative effects are not yet fully foreseeable, so this presentation reflects the interim status as of mid/end November.

Additional expenditure

8.6 million was provided in the first package in April and €3 million in the second package in July: With the current submission, a further 2.6 million euros will be made available for additional expenditure.

Selected examples:

In the healthcare sector, additional expenditure was incurred, among other things, due to participation in the corona outpatient clinic of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians and additional material procurement to comply with hygiene requirements such as protective walls, guidance systems, protective equipment and consumables.

In order to ensure the administration's ability to work in compliance with hygiene regulations, the proportion of mobile workstations for use in the home office had to be significantly increased at short notice. This required 900,000 euros.

Further costs were incurred in building management and building construction, in particular for additional security guards and additional cleaning services in schools to comply with hygiene regulations. The construction site of the future secondary school on Hartmannplatz had to be put on hold in the spring because it was not possible to carry out a search for explosive ordnance - an evacuation following the discovery of a bomb would not have been possible due to the pandemic. This alone resulted in additional costs of around 600,000 euros.

Further significant additional expenditure was also incurred due to the relocation of
council meetings to the Carlowitz Congress Centre, the power station or the Luxor, as well as the implementation of hygiene concepts in sports facilities, schools and the closure of leisure areas by the Parks Department.

Loss of revenue

The pandemic has led to a considerable loss of revenue from taxes, especially trade tax.
trade tax. In 2020, this will lead to an estimated €20 million shortfall in revenue. In addition, there will be a decline in revenue from the municipal share of income tax and VAT as a result of the pandemic's impact on employment. In total, a further shortfall in revenue of around EUR 10 million is to be expected here.

In addition, there is a shortfall in income in various areas, such as the rental and leasing of sports facilities (125,000 euros) and indoor swimming pools (approx. 500,000 euros), which cannot be used at times. In addition, in the area of culture, user fees for the adult education centre, the natural history museum and the music school as well as entrance fees for the municipal museums and Rabenstein Castle were also missing.

The cancellation of markets caused a loss of income of more than 700,000 euros. Due to the temporary closure or restriction of services at the Citizens' Office, there was a lack of income from administrative fees.

Various support services from the federal and state governments

The federal and state governments have launched a number of aid programmes: the City of Chemnitz has received €8.9 million to cover the additional expenditure via the Act to Support Local Authorities in Coping with the Pandemic. In addition, a further €14.5 million will be used to partially compensate for the loss of trade tax and pro rata income tax. There is also the prospect of compensation from the federal government for the loss of trade tax. However, it is not yet clear how much Chemnitz will receive. The federal government has also increased its contribution to the costs of accommodation and heating for Hartz IV recipients, with Chemnitz expected to receive €10 million. The city will also receive 1.5 million euros from the support for local public transport, which will be passed on to CVAG/VVHC.