Expenses means:

The city administration spends money on running costs.

For example for:

• Social benefits for people with little money
• Wage costs for its employees
• Interest
• Interest is a loan fee for money.
• Rents for third-party buildings,
• Construction work on your own buildings

This money is called expenditure in the budget.

The city administration also gets money.

That is the revenue.

In the budget, revenue is called income.

For example, these are

• Money from the state of Lower Saxony
• Money from various taxes.

The city administration has expenses and income.

Or income and expenditure.

This means that the city receives money and the city spends money.

The overall result is the sum of both.

In other words:

The city spends more money than it takes in.

That is a loss.

Or the city takes in more money than it spends.

That is a profit.

The tasks of city administration cost a lot of money.

Expenditure is sometimes higher than income.

The loss is also called a deficit.

A deficit is a minus.

The deficit must be paid from other income.

The city administration builds schools.

Or children's daycare centers.

Or roads.

That's called investment.

The city spends money on them.

Income and expenditure are planned for 1 year.

Planning begins 1 year in advance in the summer.

Each part of the city administration looks at

How much money do we have to spend?

How much money will we receive?

This results in a big plan:

The budget plan.

The city councillors of Salzgitter decide on the budget plan.

The citizens have elected the city councillors.

The city councillors discuss the budget plan.

The city councillors vote on the budget plan.

The majority of the city councillors must agree.

Then the plan is adopted.

Sometimes the city councils still want changes.

Then the money cannot be spent yet.

Then:

The Ministry of the Interior approves the budget plan.

The budget plan must then be on display for 7 days.

In other words:

Citizens can view the budget plan.

They can come to the town hall.

Or they can look at the plan on the Internet.

Only then does the budget plan become effective!

In other words:

Only then can the planned money be spent.

Sometimes the budget plan does not apply at the beginning of the year.

Why is that the case?

Perhaps:

• The city councils have not yet approved the budget plan.
• Or the state of Lower Saxony has not yet approved the budget plan.
• Or the citizens have not yet been able to view the budget plan.

Then the city can only spend money on the bare essentials.

For very urgent and important tasks.

That means: provisional budget management.