Due to the corona situation and the ailing budget situation in the city of Karlsruhe, a one-year budget will be passed this December. An additional 271 motions from the parliamentary groups and the citizenry were submitted for this. Since such a volume cannot be managed given the financial difficulties, our parliamentary group has decided to only submit a few proposals and to support only a few proposals from the parliamentary groups and the citizenry.
In the field of culture, we demand significant savings at the Badisches Staatstheater. The funding for the State Theater should remain stable at the 2019 level – we would also like a clear concept for the renovation before further construction is carried out in order to limit a cost explosion. We have also submitted another application for this purpose.
For the cultural sector, we have only agreed to support the Cantus Juventum Choir. The cultural sector and the cultural institutions are also supported by an aid package from the city of Karlsruhe. Our focus in the budget deliberations was on support for vulnerable groups in our city.
We have tabled a number of motions in the social area and will also support a number of motions from other parliamentary groups. This applies to short-term care for the elderly and young children, protection of threatened women and children, a drop-off apartment for people in street prostitution, and support with psychosocial counseling. In Karlsruhe, we already have a high standard in the social area, which is why we limit ourselves to a certain selection that, in our opinion, has not been taken into account enough or not enough. In civil protection, the fire brigade, a large post resulted from the purchase of fire-fighting vehicles that are urgently needed. Two out of four should be ordered for the coming household, but ordering all four vehicles immediately would save significant costs in purchasing, maintenance and training. With the current investment, the city of Karlsruhe would save costs in the long term. The fire brigade has so far made the smallest contribution to the 2021 investment budget. Digital signaling receivers for the readiness of the fire brigade are also necessary here, since the previous devices could no longer guarantee perfect reception – an important tool in an emergency.
Opinion / correction of December 16, 2020
Our parliamentary group accidentally voted no for short-term care for children with disabilities and inclusive holiday care for children with severe multiple disabilities – we wanted to support both motions with our vote. Even with our vote, the application for short-term care would not have gone through. We are pleased that the application for holiday care went through despite our incorrect vote.
