Saxony-Anhalt: Municipalities are pushing for better financial resources

Do Saxony-Anhalt's cities, municipalities and districts have enough money to do their job well? There has been a debate about this in the country for years.

Saxony-Anhalt: Municipalities are pushing for better financial resources

Do Saxony-Anhalt's cities, municipalities and districts have enough money to do their job well? There has been a debate about this in the country for years. The municipalities still have a need to speak. The results of an expert report should be available soon.

Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - Saxony-Anhalt's cities, municipalities and districts are pushing for better funding from the state. "We will definitely have a discussion about the finances," said the President of the Association of Towns and Municipalities, Mayor of Zerbst Andreas Dittmann (SPD), the German Press Agency. The situation of the communities in the country is very different, some are doing very badly. The level of funding will have to be discussed again this year.

The counties see it the same way. The fact that in 2023 almost all districts would have unbalanced budgets "makes it clear that the financial resources are not sufficient," said the President of the Saxony-Anhalt District Council, Götz Ulrich (CDU). "The income side of the districts consists only of the allocations that the state gives and the district levy that the municipalities pay. We have no other options. We have no tax revenue of our own," said the district administrator of the Burgenland district.

According to the Financial Equalization Act, the municipalities will receive 1.735 billion euros directly from the state this year. With a report, the Ministry of Finance wants to clarify whether the funds are distributed fairly to the districts, cities and municipalities. The results should be available in the next few weeks.

Further funds will be made available via other pots such as funding programs, so that the municipalities could receive a total of around four billion euros in 2023, according to the Ministry of Finance. In recent years, there has been a shift in performance from the state to the municipalities, Finance Minister Michael Richter (CDU) recently said in the state parliament.