CDU City Association Kaarst-Büttgen, March 2026
Ingo Kotzian
Dear Mr Mayor, ladies and gentlemen of the Council,
Dear fellow citizens,
Over the last few days, I have often thought about what I should say in my budget speech today, because the actual adoption of the budget is not the focus of most people's attention today. The focus today is solely on the increase in property and business tax, and the political campaigners from the SPD and FDP to the AFD, as well as the press, are making sure that this is the case. So how do you bring an unpleasant topic, which tax increases undoubtedly are, calmly and objectively to the addressees? How do you explain that this is not the „last straw“ or that you want to annoy citizens?
I would like to start by saying that those who support these decisions today also live in Kaarst and are therefore equally affected by an increased property tax rate, just like all other citizens. And indeed, there are also people on the council who also pay business tax in Kaarst in addition to property tax and are therefore doubly affected. What I mean by this is that those who are raising their hands here today are not on the outside or living behind the moon, but are at the centre of society. The 31 councillors of the CDU and the Greens also pay more for petrol, diesel, heating oil or food.
That is why we did not decide to implement these increases lightly. And, of course, we also knew that we would „take a beating“ from the public. If you are now wondering why we are doing it anyway, the answer is because we are taking responsibility for our city. Yes, you all heard right, responsibility. For some, this may sound like a provocation or a joke, but it is by no means. We take the responsibility that the citizens have given us with the local elections very seriously. After all, what would have been the consequences if we had not succeeded in averting the HH protection? The city would have been obliged to draw up a budget protection concept that would have led to a balanced budget within a maximum period of 10 years. The legal requirements for this are quite clear and rigid. According to the calculation scheme, the city would have had to balance an imputed deficit of €24 million in 2035 based on the draft budget for 2026, without countermeasures, in order to be in the black.
That a town like Kaarst could consolidate such a sum is completely illusory, because it would mean, among other things, that all - and I mean all - voluntary services would have to be cancelled. To illustrate what this would mean for Kaarst, I would like to give you some concrete examples:
- School social work - annual voluntary cost sharing by the city €620,000, cancelled!
- Welfare care for senior citizens, e.g. the senior citizens' centre - annual voluntary cost contribution by the city - €150,000, cancelled!
- Culture - voluntary subsidisation of the culture budget €125,000 per year, cabaret, exhibitions, Tuppenhof and Braunsmühle, all cancelled
- Daycare centres - subsidisation of the daycare centre system around €12,000,000 per year, a reduction in this amount would mean a considerable additional financial burden for families.
However, as these measures would be far from sufficient to achieve the aforementioned 0, additional tax increases would be necessary to an even more dramatic extent. This had to be avoided, because without a black 0 at the end of the 10-year term of the budget security concept, there would be no approval from the district and the district has the final say.
The angry FB, Instergram or NGZ reader might think that this would not be so dramatic if the district did not give its OK. However, those who have been spending their free time in the council chamber for years (decades), constantly educating themselves and doing their job to the best of their knowledge and belief, know what it means not to have an approved budget. Without a legally binding budget, you are in „provisional budget management“. Kaarst has already experienced what this means for a municipality in 2015, when the then 5-party alliance could not bring itself to approve the budget.
During „provisional budget management“, the administration may only incur expenditure that is legally and contractually obligatory. This would again result in a scenario similar to the one I have just described. All voluntary services would not be allowed and would not be paid out. No money for sports, shooting, carnival or cultural organisations, no money for libraries or other church institutions. Those affected at the time certainly remember the uncertainty of not knowing whether the subsidy would be paid or not. Every investment, whether in education or transport infrastructure, had to be approved by the district. It was also important to prevent such a scenario as far as possible.
We have therefore decided to support the unfortunately significant increase in property tax and the very moderate increase in trade tax. We would have liked to have done without these measures, but simply too little has happened in recent years. Too few commercial properties have been sold, too few companies have relocated, too little new business tax has been paid into the city coffers. Despite all the prophecies of doom, this was not due to the council majority of CDU and Greens, as this majority only rejected one project that would not have brought in any business tax. 11 sales resolutions were not implemented for various reasons. These sales proceeds and the resulting new trade tax are missing today.
The CDU also had the impression that, in contrast to the politicians who made all budget decisions with the votes of the CDU, Greens, FDP, SPD and UWG, the issue of consolidation was not a top priority for the first citizen of our city during her term of office. Such a far-reaching process as consolidation must be exemplified by the very top so that it is first taken on board and implemented in the administration. You can't do things by halves here. In recent months, the CDU and also the Greens have realised that a different wind is blowing from the administration, led by the mayor, which carries a seriousness with regard to the will to consolidate that was not felt before. Every stone is being turned over, every budget item scrutinised. The initial results from parts of the administration are available and have already been incorporated into the amendment to the budget. The other areas will be making their contributions shortly.
Of course, all of this can only be the beginning of a process that must end with a balanced budget. The commercial sites that are still vacant must finally be sold and new financially strong companies must be established (around an hour ago, the property committee passed sales resolutions worth around € 4.65 million). The city's workforce must be rationalised (the first xx jobs have already been cut). Work processes must be optimised and frictional losses avoided (this is the duty of the Administrative Board, which was completed today with Mr Johnen). Projects may have to be reprioritised together - and standards redefined. And yes, I would also like to expressly emphasise that the demands to take far-reaching strategic and structural measures are correct. There can be no „business as usual“, innovation and the courage to try something new are more urgent than ever.
However, it is also true that all of these measures will not take effect immediately. Expanding the municipal utilities' areas of responsibility will only start to generate income for the city coffers in a few years' time, the reduction of staff in the town halls will take time and must be accompanied by a sensible review of tasks. Unfortunately, we have lost a lot of time and yes, we could all have been better, faster.
Finally, I would like to say a few words to my colleagues in the SPD, especially the leader of their parliamentary group. It is very regrettable that the SPD has taken a new direction in political co-operation since the election. The sometimes very polemical and aggressive social media posts, leaflets containing half-truths that are visually reminiscent of the times of the Weimar Republic and deliberate indiscretions in dealing with non-public consultation documents are sad proof of this. The SPD repeatedly accuses the CDU of having pursued a haphazard budgetary policy for decades. As a neutral observer, you have to smile at this, because wasn't it the SPD that demanded free childcare for decades, regardless of whether it was in a day-care centre or an OGS? But what is €6 million per year?.
It is true that under the leadership of the CDU, the equalisation reserve was increased from around €13.9 million in 2007 to around €34 million as at 31 December 2022. It is only thanks to this reserve that we can even balance the high deficit for 2026 and only have to draw on the general reserve in 2027 and thus remain able to act. For me, a failed financial policy looks different. However, the past has shown us that comrades sometimes have their very own interpretation of this, which is impressively underlined by a look at the poorest federal states of Bremen and Berlin, which were almost permanently governed by the SPD. But even this does not change the fact that local authorities are fundamentally underfunded. Even if parts of the problem are home-made, neither the city council, the mayor nor the administration have any influence on the majority of municipal expenditure. It is simply unacceptable that both the state and the federal government (regardless of who is in power at the time) are constantly allocating new tasks to the municipalities without providing sufficient funding.
Our thanks for the hard work on this budget go to our mayor C. H. H., our treasurer Sebastian Semmler, the head of the treasury department Sabrina Thißen, the entire treasury department team and Mr Droste. My personal thanks also go to Dominik Broda, who, in addition to his job, also has to take care of his family with his wife and 2 small children and yet always works reliably, trustingly, calmly (I don't always manage that) and solution-orientated for the cause. Thank you.
I will end with a quote from the Dalai Lama: „Difficult times make us develop determination and inner strength“.
The CDU is strong and determined to break new ground together with its mayor and also to make uncomfortable decisions so that Kaarst remains liveable and lovable. Thank you for your attention.
The spoken word prevails