The elephant is not only at home in more southern regions, but also in some idioms. In this country he likes to haunt the china shop, in the Anglo-Saxon-speaking area he just stands in the room and thus forms the metaphor for a problem that everyone sees but nobody wants to address. When it comes to the district budget, the trunk animal has always been present in the latter role – but the broken dishes are likely to follow soon.
Specifically, the question is always the same: Does the district have enough income for its ambitious investment program? For years, the combing department’s answer has been a clear “no”, combined with the Anglo-Saxon elephant-like knowledge that the county levy must increase. A topic that the majority in the committee stoically ignored so far and, to stay in the picture, even fattened the elephant by continuously lowering the levy. Now the first loud trumpet can be heard, which should make it a little more difficult for the district council members to ignore the existence of the levy elephant: The treasury has calculated how much money you need and by how much the district levy has to increase. In keeping with the tried and tested tradition of elephant camouflage, it was agreed before the first reading debate not to debate the result of this calculation. But that won’t be possible for a very long time.
And here comes the part with the broken porcelain: There are several ways to solve the problem. First, the district cuts its expenditure down to the minimum that can be paid from the income without a higher district levy. Or secondly, the levy will be raised to the level that allows spending as provided for by the current resolution. In between there are of course different levels, such as a little more district allocation and a little less and more slowly investing. That – maybe not this year – there will be long and intense wrestling over both in the district council can be taken for granted.
If, however, an agreement cannot be reached, a look at the Bavarian district regulations may help. It says that a district “has to obtain the income (…) from taxes and the district levy that is necessary to fulfill its tasks”. The responsible legal supervisory authority, in this case the Ministry of the Interior, checks whether this is done properly. Its powers are quite substantial: “If public law tasks or obligations are not fulfilled, the legal supervisory authority can request the district to carry out the necessary measures,” the district regulation continues. Ultimately, the ministry can even “order and implement the necessary measures in place of the district. The district bears the costs.” He should therefore deal with his elephant as soon as possible before others do – and write an invoice for it.