Neubrandenburg (dpa/mv) - The city of Neubrandenburg expects energy costs to be more than twice as high in 2023. As a spokeswoman for the city announced on Friday, around 3.2 million euros in costs for district heating, gas and electricity are planned. That would be 150 percent more than in 2022, when 1.3 million euros were estimated. This also ensures that, after the enormous reduction in debt in recent years, the city now has a draft budget with a minus of ten million euros for the first time in a long time.
According to Mayor Silvio Witt (independent), the city manages around 1,500 buildings, including schools, the fire brigade, sports halls, swimming pools and event buildings such as the concert church and the House of Culture and Education. In addition, a large part of the costs of the many clubs are taken over.
With around 65,000 inhabitants, Neubrandenburg is the largest city in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock and Schwerin. Because of several nationally active companies such as the auxiliary heating manufacturer Webasto and the mechanical engineering company Weber, the city is considered one of the MV municipalities with the highest tax power.
One of the largest construction projects, the energetic renovation of the town hall, should be completed by August 2023. According to Witt, around 21 million euros will be raised for this, three million more than planned at the start of construction in 2019. The huge house opposite the old town was built in the mid-1960s as the seat of the district leadership of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and the council of the Neubrandenburg district.
