Münster (dpa / lnw) - Eight independent cities from North Rhine-Westphalia have lodged a constitutional complaint with the state's constitutional court. The lawsuit against the Municipal Financing Act (GFG) for the year 2022 is supported by the NRW City Council. Bonn, Bottrop, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Münster, Solingen and Wuppertal are suing on behalf of all independent cities in North Rhine-Westphalia because of unequal treatment in the municipal financial equalization of the state. A court spokesman confirmed receipt of the lawsuit on Tuesday. It is still unclear when the complaint will be heard.
"The cities are resisting the state putting them at a disadvantage in the distribution of state funds. The state is acting as if these cities can voluntarily set higher rates for trade and property tax just because they are independent of a district As a result, more of their own tax revenue is attributed to them than to rural areas," said Helmut Dedy of the German Press Agency on the reason for the constitutional complaint. As a result, the plaintiffs receive fewer key assignments and would have to pay more landscape levies, said the managing director of the NRW city council. That is unacceptable, especially since the country has to take into account the need and the high or low tax capacity when distributing the money.
According to the NRW City Council, with the GFG 2022 the legislature has for the first time differentiated between district-free and district-affiliated municipalities when determining the tax capacity, although the key allocations are determined uniformly. According to the City Council, this will lead to a redistribution of 110 million euros from the independent cities to the municipalities belonging to the districts.
It is true that the independent towns on average charge higher rates for property and trade tax than municipalities that belong to a district. However, the cities were forced to do so due to rising spending. Indebted municipalities have been urged by the municipal supervisory authority to increase the assessment rates, argues the city council.
