In the last session before the summer break on Monday, there was no holiday mood in the Wels municipal council – even if Mayor Rabl donated an ice cream cone to all mandaters. The committee worked through a large number of topics in three and a half hours.
Parking Fees:
For almost an hour, the municipal council members discussed the new fees in the car park at Wels train station. As reported, the use of the facility by parkers who are not train passengers or park their car for days or weeks should be prevented. For this purpose, two euros are charged from the first day, with each additional day without an exit, the fee slowly increases.
The ÖVP had previously criticized the financial burden on commuters and tabled an amendment according to which fees should not be due until one week after entry. According to Transport City Councilor Ganzert (SP), the measure would be ineffective.
The amendment was rejected, as were amendments by the SPÖ and the Greens. The introduction of the fees and the associated purchase of a new barrier-free system for the parking garage were accepted with votes from FP, SP, Neos and MfG.
Account accepted
The city’s accounts for 2022 were unanimously approved. This had already been presented a few weeks ago, so the city recorded a surplus of 36.7 million euros.
Mayor Rabl defended his conservative budgetary policy and warned of difficult budgets in the years 2024 to 2026. Rising personnel costs and several investments such as the new exhibition hall and the city park are expected to put a strain on the budget.
Ralf Drack from the Greens questioned whether the pressure to save last year was necessary in view of the large surplus. In the social sector there were underspending – social officer and deputy mayor Christa Raggl-Mühlberger explained this by saying that although money had been available, in many cases no staff could be found.
spatial planning amendment
The Wels contractual spatial regulations are being amended. Among other things, this stipulates that building project planners must pay taxes to the city for the creation of green infrastructure such as parks and social infrastructure such as kindergartens. So far, only project developers in mixed-use areas have been affected, but now the payments are also due in company-owned areas with significant deductions.
According to Regional Planning Councilor Ralph Schäfer (FP), the harmonization will eliminate unequal treatment. VP City Councilor Martin Oberndorfer criticized: The city is making it difficult for companies to settle there. It makes more sense to bring good companies and thus new jobs to Wels. Their taxes in the form of municipal taxes are higher in the long term than the one-off payments for construction projects. The amendment was accepted with votes from all parties except the VP.
In addition, two areas were dedicated to construction projects – 16,500 square meters in Pernau, where terraced houses are to be built, and an apartment building on Fabrikstrasse with nine residential units on 1,800 square meters.
Planning security has been created for the city’s cultural events: the endowment for the next two seasons has been decided for subscription and castle garden concerts as well as the figure theater festival, so that planning can begin.
Source: Nachrichten
