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Mayor in Kinzigtal: company car or private car?
Find out how mayors in Freudenstadt use company cars privately, including new regulations from 2026 and local examples.
Mayor in Kinzigtal: company car or private car?
An interesting topic is often discussed in the world of mayors: the use of official vehicles. In Haslach, Mayor Armin Hansmann has announced that he will use a Ford Kuga as a company car after his leasing contract expires in January 2026. So far he has been driving a BMW X5, which he took over from his predecessor, Philipp Saar. In Haslach there is a council resolution from 2005 that allows him to use his company car privately, a privilege that is very common for mayors in Baden-Württemberg. This special benefit is also known as the “Mayor's Privilege” and makes it possible to take care of citizens' concerns even outside of regular working hours, like Chip reported.
The cost of the new company car is around 550 euros per month, including maintenance. Hansmann plans to change the vehicle classification from “luxury class” to “upper middle class” for the next procurement. It is interesting that Hausach's mayor Wolfgang Hermann is the only other person in the region who also uses a company car. Hermann currently drives an electric BMW iX1, whose leasing rate is just under 650 euros. If you add additional costs, it becomes quite a chunk.
The regulations and the perception
Many mayors in the region, including those from Wolfach, Steinach and Gutach, mainly travel in their private vehicles. However, you must ensure that business trips are billed in accordance with the state travel expenses law. Mayor Helga Wössner from Mühlenbach and Thomas Geppert from Wolfach are not using a company car at all in order to possibly avoid being noticed by the citizens. At this point the question arises: how important is the image that mayors present to the public?
Martin Aßmuth, the mayor of Hofstetten, drives a used Dacia jogger and takes a different direction: He doesn't charge for business trips and estimates that it costs him a four-figure sum. These different approaches show how diverse the decisions regarding the use of company cars can be among mayors.
The special situation of mayors in Baden-Württemberg is an interesting topic. While teachers, administrators and police officers do not enjoy a comparable privilege, mayors are also allowed to use their company cars for private purposes. However, the regulations for this use are subject to strict rules that vary from municipality to municipality. In Kitzingen, for example, the mayor is only allowed to drive a maximum of 500 kilometers per year privately, and trips between his home and town hall are also permitted. Here it is worth taking a look at the billing for private use: This is done either via a logbook or as a flat rate according to the one percent rule in order to reduce administrative costs.
These regulations and differences raise questions: How transparent are the mayors' decisions regarding private use and what impact does this have on acceptance among the population? In any case, the mayor's privilege remains an issue that both arouses the interest of citizens and stimulates debate about the use of public resources.