Finance: Criticism of municipalities of plans for special funds

The German District Council criticizes the planned implementation of the special fund for countries and municipalities. It is about an actually planned fixed quota of 60 percent for the municipalities in the share for the federal states in the amount of 100 billion euros – but this quota no longer appears in the cabinet template.

“This would remain the central signal that most of the remedies should arrive where they are urgently needed. That would be a slap in the face of cities, counties and municipalities,” said the managing director of the German District Day, Hans-Günter Henneke, the German press agency.

The cabinet now wants to deal with the draft law to finance infrastructure investments by the federal states and municipalities. The federal states should receive 100 billion euros of the total of 500 billion euros in special funds for additional investments in the infrastructure and climate protection.

According to the cabinet template, which is available to the German Press Agency, the federal states should each determine the amount of the proportion of the funds due to the respective country, which is to be used for the municipal infrastructure. The federal states should take special attention to the needs of financial disorders. In a draft of the finance of the Ministry of Finance from the beginning of June, there was still talk of the state to be determined by the country for the municipalities.

Henneke said the minimum rate of 60 percent of the investment funds for the municipal level is important for effective growth impulses. “All the more we are that this passage is now missing in the cabinet template.” A fair participation of the municipalities can only be ensured if this is bindingly anchored in the law. “Instead, we are now experiencing again that the countries reserved a distribution power, which in the past unfortunately has not been reliably exercised in favor of the municipal level.”