Administration miscalculated – again City of Bonn unexpectedly in surplus in 2019 with ten million Euro
Bonn · For the third time in a row, the city administration has missed the mark with its budget planning, but instead of registering a deficit of 42 million Euro, as expected, it is posting a surplus of ten million Euro for 2019.
The good news first: the city is in a better financial position than expected. According to the 2019 annual financial statement, which the city's treasurer Margarete Heidler will present to the council in June, Bonn achieved a surplus of almost ten million Euro last year - instead of the deficit of 42 million that had been budgeted for. The bad news: this is the third time in a row that the result deviates significantly from the city's forecast. For 2018 it was 70 million Euro off, for 2017 it was 144 million Euro off. These two years also ended with a surplus instead of a deficit.
The good economic situation in Germany had an impact again on the annual financial statements in 2019, the press office reported on Wednesday. Also, there were special effects and developments - for example in legislation - which had not been foreseeable. "In addition, these annual financial statements again include authorisation transfers in the amount of approximately 45 million Euro," said Deputy City Spokesman Marc Hoffmann. "These are certain orders placed in 2019 whose delivery and performance as well as invoicing could not be fully attributed to 2019."
Increased tax revenues are not the reason for the plus
In any case, the unexpected surplus has nothing to do with taxes. They brought Bonn 653 instead of 655 million Euro, because less trade tax was paid than expected. In the 1.37 billion Euro budget, however, many other expenditure and revenue items may fluctuate up or down. The following are examples based on information from the city administration.
The costs of accommodation were 5.3 million Euro lower last year because the number of cases in basic provision fell. The city received an additional 6.4 million Euro in "unforeseeable subsidies" from the state's integration allowance. A plus of 3.3 million Euro was recorded in the fees for sewage and rainwater. It expended around 1.3 million Euro less than planned on building management and energy. On the other hand, personnel costs rose massively: from 313 million Euro in 2018 to 339 million Euro. The finance department had only budgeted 328 million. These costs also include pension provisions, but these are only on paper: The municipality, which can only finance its current expenditure with loans, does not set aside any real money for this.
Contribution of the double budget 2021/22 only at the end of the year
Michael Faber, head of the Left parliamentary group, sees his views confirmed by the renewed annual surplus. He had already accused the city administration of "clearly too pessimistic" planning during the debate on the current double budget. "In my opinion, the new figures speak for miserable budget planning and miserable controlling by the city administration across the board," criticised Faber, who is running for mayor for his party.
The forecasts are important for the budget discussions. Treasurer Heidler and Lord Mayor Ashok Sridharan do not want to introduce the double budget 2021/2022 until the end of the year because of the unclear effects of the Corona crisis. They expect tax losses of around 66 million Euro this year.
(Original text: Andreas Baumann / Translation: Mareike Graepel)
