City of Bonn Politicians present changes to budget proposals

Bonn · Planning office should get up to ten new staff as emphasis is put on more new housing in Bonn.

The city of Bonn cannot make any big changes in light of its budget situation and the tight consolidation phase. Coalition politicians therefore made few changes to the 2017/2018 budget proposal put forward by the city administration.

The politicians emphasised the issue of housing, which should be stepped up in Bonn. The planning office should get more personnel and there is talk of up to ten additional positions at a cost of 1.2 to 1.5 million euros a year. CDU party head Klaus-Peter Gilles said the increase in personnel would allow significantly more apartments to be built in Bonn. The politicians were in agreement there should be no new increase in Grundsteuer (real estate tax).

The twin budget should be adopted in the council meeting on 8 December. Among others, the following changes are planned:

  • as well as up to ten new posts in the planning and building office, additional posts should be created for educational psychology in the schools office (up to four or five). Property management and mobility management should also each have one additional post.
  • the Deutsches Museum should receive a grant of 300,000 euros from 2019 instead of the current 250,000 euros. It is unclear whether this will be enough to save the museum on Ahrstraße, which is threatened with closure.
  • the majority of the council’s members want to set aside 400,000 euros in each of the next two years for the long-planned bicycle hire scheme.
  • the memorial to Nazi victims in Bonn will receive an additional 10,000 euros from 2017. The Schumannhaus, which will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Clara Schumann in 2019, will receive a one-off payment of 20,000 euros in the coming year.
  • as the European Baseball Championships will be held in Bonn in 2018, up to 250,000 euros should be made available for the renovation of the Bonn-Capitals baseball facilities.
  • significantly more funds should be made available for redevelopment measures in the four city areas of Bonn, Beuel, Hardtberg and Bad Godesberg.

On the issue of a possible local referendum on whether the Kurfürstenbad should remain open, the party chiefs made clear not one cent would be made available in the twin budget for the renovation of the Kurfürstenbad or the Frankenbad. They referred to the council decision to construct a new swimming pool on a site in Dottendorf.

Original text: Lisa Inhoffen. Translated by Kate Carey.

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