Household drama in Teltow-Fläming: Wehlan steers through tension!

Household drama in Teltow-Fläming: Wehlan steers through tension!

Today's issue focuses on the budget drama that is affecting the Teltow-Fläming district administration. District Administrator Kornelia Wehlan, who directs the district's fortunes for the Left, rates the situation as stable after a public scandal in the district council. This is done by maz-online.de reported. On October 13th, Wehlan rejected the budget draft by Chamberlain Johannes Ferdinand (CDU), whereupon she presented her own draft.

Both drafts signal a deficit of 13.6 million euros for the 2026 budget, and the discussion about the district levy is heating up. Ferdinand planned to increase the district levy from 43 to 44.5 percent, while Wehlan proposed an increase to 43.5 percent. In order to make up for the difference of 3.67 million euros, she wants to make administrative savings.

The pressure on the communities

The situation is particularly challenging because nine of the 16 municipalities in the district are not creditworthy. This led to the mayors speaking out against increasing the district levy by more than 43.5 percent in order to minimize the financial burden on their municipalities. Wehlan underlines her responsibility as district administrator and the need to keep an eye on the budgets of the cities in the district.

The disputes in the district council come at a time when the position of Alderman Ferdinand needs to be filled. Despite the political rivalry that stems from the 2021 district election, Wehlan says there is no conflict between her and Ferdinand. Nevertheless, she had to take action in the district council because her proposals on previous budget issues have not yet found the necessary majorities.

Looking for solutions

With regard to the draft budget for 2024, Felix Thier, the chairman of the district council group, presented the new proposal. Wehlan plans to have the district council approve the budget by the turn of the year. The planned debate on this is scheduled to begin on December 11th. Loud dielinke-teltow-flaeming.de The district administration has already implemented 39.5 million euros in savings, but the missing 4.5 million euros urgently need to be covered through the district levy.

The situation is further complicated by a number of objections from municipalities against the district levy payment. There were 33 such cases between 2015 and 2023, which further burdened the financial framework. Even though the district administration has made provisions of over 300 million euros, these are not available for investments and are increasing the pressure on current budgets.

A unified consensus for funding public services is essential for all mayors in the district, especially when it comes to public transport. The discussion about the draft budget and the amount of the district levy will continue intensively in the coming weeks in order to find a sustainable solution.