Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) - The Hessian state government continues to reject a state-wide abolition of road contributions. A Hessen-wide ban on collecting contributions not only weakens local self-government, said Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU) on Thursday in the Hessian state parliament in Wiesbaden. This would also restrict the municipal scope for action.
In the current legislative period, several initiatives to abolish road fees have already been rejected in the state parliament. The debate in Parliament did not bring any new arguments, the minister explained. The left-wing faction justified its draft law for the complete abolition of road construction contributions with the fact that roads are part of the public infrastructure and therefore also a public task.
In his last speech in the Hessian state parliament, leftist deputy Hermann Schaus criticized the use of individual residents to finance this public infrastructure as unfair, especially since not all municipalities collect contributions. The state should take over the contributions in full. For the financing, there should be a temporary special fund of at least 70 million euros per year.
In the past, the street contributions have repeatedly led to debates in Hesse. After a change in the law by the black-green state government in 2018, cities and municipalities can now decide for themselves whether they want residents to pay for the renewal and renovation of municipal roads. Previously, they had to collect these fees when they ran a budget deficit.
