Without functioning water and sewage pipes, every community will run into problems. Many cities and municipalities are currently in great need of renovation. Bavaria's subsidy pot cannot cover the demand.
Munich (dpa/lby) - Due to a lack of available funds, 471 Bavarian municipalities are currently having to wait for promised funding from the Free State for drinking water and wastewater projects. This emerges from a response from the Ministry of the Environment to a request from the Greens in the Bavarian state parliament, which is available to the German Press Agency in Munich.
In the current year, more than 222 million euros of the approximately 225 million euros in the subsidy pot have already been paid out, of which 211.72 million euros for hardship cases.
In the area of water supply, this amounts to more than 500,000 euros on average and up to 6.2 million euros in individual cases, which the municipalities would have to finance in advance or interim. Wastewater disposal involves subsidies of up to 5.4 million euros.
Many towns and municipalities in Bavaria are currently renovating outdated drinking water supply and waste water disposal systems. However, many cities and municipalities lack the financial means. Therefore, they have to demand additional contributions from their citizens or apply to the state government for hardship funding.
This year alone, 220 new applications for hardship funding have been made, which, according to forecasts by the state government, could increase by applications totaling around another 100 million euros by the end of the year. "The corresponding payment requests are spread over the years 2023 to 2027, depending on the completion of the measures," the ministry said in its reply.
The local political spokesman for the Greens in the state parliament, Johannes Becher, said that the process posed enormous challenges for some clammy municipalities. "The municipalities submit the hardship applications because the per capita burden is otherwise too high," he said. At the moment, however, the waiting for the municipalities has no end. "The budget pot of the Free State was already too small when it was decided in the spring. More than every fifth municipality in Bavaria is currently waiting for money from the Free State and only from this guideline." This puts the municipalities in serious trouble.
"The investments in water supply and disposal are good and important for the municipalities and should be supported by the Free State in a timely manner," said Becher. He accused the state government of mismanagement. This must not be repeated next year. "The funding for the municipalities must be increased significantly." The infrastructure for water and waste water is one of the core elements of services of general interest.
