Mayor introduces draft budget for the 2019/2020 biennial budget
Mayor Barbara Ludwig today presented the key points of the draft biennial budget for 2019 and 2020. The city's budget for the next two years has a volume of around 1.6 billion euros in the operating budget.
Due to the favourable overall economic development, the city is expecting rising revenues. Despite unchanged tax rates, tax revenue is increasing, particularly in the area of trade tax. However, higher state allocations are also playing a role. The budget planning for 2019 and 2020 envisages around 251 million euros and 256 million euros respectively from tax revenue and 210 million euros and 218 million euros respectively from the financial equalisation of the Free State.
With investments totalling 203 million euros in 2019/2020, the city's priorities continue to be schools, daycare centres, sports facilities and roads. The approximately 67 million euros planned for the renovation and new construction of schools due to the rising number of children represents the largest block of expenditure. In addition to the new secondary school on Arno-Schreiter-Straße, which was handed over at the start of the 2018/19 school year, and the new secondary school on Hartmannplatz, which has already been approved, the city of Chemnitz will be building a further four primary schools and three secondary schools.
Investments totalling 9 million euros are planned for daycare centres over the next two years. Between 2017 and 2020, eleven new daycare centres will be built and around 1,300 new places will be made available. A total of around 99 million euros will be available for the operation of the daycare centres in 2019 and 103 million euros in the following year.
A total of 203 million euros (operating budget and investments) is to be spent on culture and sport in 2019 and 2020. The most important milestone for further urban development is Chemnitz's bid to become European Capital of Culture 2025, for which the city is expecting material and planning costs totalling around one million euros by 2020. Another focus of the city's planning is the implementation of the future concept for the municipal theatres, for which the municipal subsidy will be increased to 33 million euros per year by 2020. As in previous years, the city's diverse independent cultural scene will continue to receive five per cent of the total cultural budget
.
Around 39 million euros will be spent on sport over the next two years, including 11.8 million euros in sports funding for sports clubs. A further 33 million euros are earmarked for investments. The main focus will be on the reconstruction of the main stadium in the Sportforum, the renovation of the speed skating rink and the construction of the new swimming complex.
The city will also continue to make targeted investments in transport infrastructure. The draft budget provides for 48 million euros for roads and bridges in 2019/2020.
Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig: "Chemnitz is continuing on its successful growth path. And this is also reflected in the budget figures: with the two-year budget for 2019 and 2020, the city is clearly committed to its future topics of education, families, culture, sport and safety. Daycare centres, schools, culture and sport. These topics make up city life. And it is our declared aim to make this city life even more attractive. We want to actively involve citizens and develop our strategy for Chemnitz together with them. The 2019/2020 biennial budget is a budget that shapes the city instead of managing it."
Further information and the draft budget: