The companies in Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn will transfer an estimated eight million euros in trade tax to the town hall this year. With this sum, the municipality is not in a good position compared to other municipalities in the district. For example, Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn is on par with its neighbor Hohenbrunn in terms of the forecast trade tax, although 2,000 fewer people live there. And similarly large municipalities such as Unterföhring (89 million euros), Planegg (23 million euros) or the Primus Grünwald (218 million euros) even earn a multiple of Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn, according to the preliminary report on the district budget.
In order to catch up here and thus have more scope for investments, the community wants to attract more companies to the town. The prerequisite for this is, of course, suitable land, which is why the municipal council has now made a decision in principle to develop a new commercial area. The committee unanimously commissioned Mayor Mindy Konwitschny (SPD) to look for suitable properties and to conduct negotiations with their owners. Finally, the municipal administration advises buying the corresponding areas “in order to create clear ownership structures and to be able to settle the desired trade as a municipality”. The municipality does not currently have suitable land.
“With all our projects, it would be good for us to attract more businesses that pay taxes here,” said the mayor. She called the decision of the municipal council “also a sign to the outside world that we have recognized that we have to work on our finances and need more trade”. In any case, the town hall sees a need for additional areas for company settlements. According to the building authority, this is reflected in the inquiries from 36 companies – four of them from the municipality itself. A good third of the companies are looking for commercial space of up to 1000 square meters; after all, five companies have registered a need for more than 20,000 square meters in the town hall.
In order to serve this great demand, a new commercial area is needed. According to the ideas of the municipal administration, this should be close to the motorway but also be well connected to the footpath and cycle path network as well as to local public transport. Efficient broadband coverage and the least possible disruption to the neighborhood are also important. “We urgently need to address the issue of industrial parks,” stressed Roland Spingler (CSU). According to him, it’s not just about higher tax revenues, but also about local jobs. “For environmental reasons, it cannot be that we have to send our residents to other communities or to the city to work,” said Spingler.
Meanwhile, Janine Schneider (Greens) pointed out that the issue of surface sealing also had to be considered when developing an industrial park. In addition, with a view to a motion by her group, she campaigned for a future commercial area to be based on sustainable aspects. “We could use this to attract companies,” said Schneider. “If we create a sustainable commercial area, that would be a unique selling point.”