Municipal budget crisis - collapse in GFG general grants
With a joint amendment, the coalition is setting the course for budget consolidation: measures with the potential to relieve the budget are to be adopted by the end of April. Elected representatives will decide beforehand which criteria will be used to set priorities. The basis for the decision will be made available in concise form and accessible to the public.
“This situation calls for priorities, trade-offs and decisions to keep Münster able to act in the future. We will not make savings at the expense of those who are already struggling, and we will not sacrifice the investments that make Münster fit for the future. Determined and considered, rather than lapsing into knee-jerk action,” says Maren Berkenheide, group leader.
“Saving starts with a good plan. Before we argue about individual measures, we will agree together on the standards by which we decide. And everyone should be able to understand what a measure achieves and what it costs, not only in euros, but also for the climate, education and social cohesion,” says Sven Konopka, finance spokesperson. “However, a system of financial equalisation under which Münster's allocation falls from almost €129 million to just under €3 million within two years is no basis for reliable planning. Whoever orders it must pay for it, in Düsseldorf as in Berlin.”
Roundabout on Von-Esmarch-Straße
Today the council revoked its traffic light decision of 20 May. This was based on a joint motion that Volt tabled together with other council groups. The city administration will now plan an optimised roundabout with separate cycle paths and present a construction decision as quickly as possible. In doing so, the council meets the demands of the citizens' initiative “Kreisel statt Ampel” (roundabout instead of traffic lights), for which around 18,000 signatures were collected. A referendum is no longer necessary.
“For us, road safety has always come first. But safety does not necessarily mean traffic lights. Accident research by the insurance industry has shown that roundabouts achieve a higher level of safety than junctions with or without traffic lights, even in built-up areas. Our Dutch neighbours have been proving this for years,” says Helene Goldbeck, the Volt group's spokesperson for urban planning and urban development. “The optimised roundabout is also cheaper, preserves the green space and saves the city an expensive referendum. As early as 2020, the accident commission had recommended such a redesign. What matters now is implementing it quickly and to the highest safety standards.” (View the motion)
Proposal from the Youth Council: making major junctions more cycle-friendly
In a proposal of its own, the Youth Council puts forward the idea of a green wave for cyclists at the Coesfelder Kreuz and direct left turns at several major junctions. As a coalition, together with other parts of the council, we support this request and are asking the administration to examine the options.
“The Youth Council brings exactly the perspective we need: concrete, rooted in everyday life and solution-oriented. If cars are allowed to turn left directly while cyclists have to wait at the lights twice, that is not what a cycling city should look like,” says Sven Konopka, Volt group councillor. (View the proposal)
Deutschlandticket Sozial
From 1 November, the Deutschlandticket Sozial will also be available in Münster. Holders of the Münster-Pass can subscribe to it for €50 a month and use local buses and trains throughout Germany. The discounted ticket has already been available for some time in many districts and independent cities in NRW; now Münster is closing this gap. It is based on a joint motion by the Greens, SPD and Volt.
The new offer will be financed without placing any additional burden on the city budget. To achieve this, the price of the Münster-Abo with Münster-Pass will rise once from €21 to €25. This means it will still cost about half as much as the Deutschlandticket Sozial.
“Mobility means participation. With the Deutschlandticket Sozial, people on low incomes can visit family in Bielefeld or travel to a job interview in Dortmund without having to work out the cost of every single journey,” says Maren Berkenheide, leader of the Volt group. “And we are achieving this without placing an additional burden on the already stretched budget. The Stadtwerke's report next year will show how well the offer is being taken up.” (View the draft resolution)
Implementation of the “MISSIMO” model
Today the council decided to run the state project Missimo once as a pilot. The project aims to uncover the misuse of social benefits, particularly child benefit. To this end, the city administration, the Jobcenter, the Family Benefits Office (Familienkasse) and the police exchange data in a structured way.
“It is important to us to make the debate more objective and not to draw conclusions about entire groups from individual cases. We therefore see MISSIMO as an opportunity to gain experience on the basis of reliable data: what does the instrument actually achieve, how much effort does it involve and what insights does it offer for Münster? What matters to us is that we then base further decisions on this evidence,” says Helene Goldbeck, deputy leader of the Volt group. Nevertheless, it leaves an aftertaste, because nobody likes checks. (View the draft resolution)
