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Mannheim's Mayor Specht: Without financial help, there is a risk of collapse!
Mayor Specht supports the fire letter from 13 cities to Chancellor Merz and calls for clear financial aid for Mannheim.
Mannheim's Mayor Specht: Without financial help, there is a risk of collapse!
In an urgent message, 13 mayors of the state capitals in Germany, including Mannheim, addressed Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The incendiary letter, which was sent on Tuesday, addresses the pressing financial difficulties that many municipalities are facing. Mayor Christian Specht from Mannheim emphasizes that cities and municipalities have to take on more and more tasks, but these are not adequately financed. As is well known, problems are knocking on the door of town halls and the pressure is becoming increasingly unbearable. MRN News reports that Specht is calling for the rule “whoever orders must pay” to be brought back into focus.
The challenges are diverse. The tasks passed on include not only legal rights to kindergarten places, but also all-day care for school children. At the same time, municipalities are faced with the challenge of bearing almost 95 percent of the social burden. After all, Mannheim had to save over 600 million euros by 2028 alone in order to remain in positive territory. This money is missing for urgently needed investments in infrastructure, such as the renovation of dilapidated bridges and roads or the expansion of child care and all-day schools. The situation is serious and the financial pressure is enormous.
Financial misery as a central theme
As the fire letter makes clear, there is an increasing gap between municipal income and expenditure. The city leaders are urgently warning of an impending financial collapse. The time reports that the municipal financing deficit will have reached a record value of 24.8 billion euros in 2024 - the highest value since 1990. The main reason for this is increasing social spending, such as social assistance, child and youth welfare, as well as growing personnel costs due to tariff increases. The financial bottlenecks are not only causing problems for the cities, but are also placing a considerable burden on the districts and municipal associations.
In order to bring about an improvement, the town hall leaders demand in their letter from the federal government to guarantee full and appropriate compensation for the strain on municipal resources in future draft laws. In addition, compensation for previous decisions is sought. A central point here is legal compliance with the state constitutional connectivity rules. In simple words: New burdens may only be implemented if the financing for them is secured.
An urgent appeal to politicians
The situation is also shared by other mayor colleagues and experts in the area of municipal finance. They emphasize that it is now politics' turn. “Small financial help,” says Specht, is far from enough. A fundamental change in municipal financial resources is necessary in order not to put municipalities in a hopeless situation. The demands for support and fair compensation are loud and clear - the ball is now in the federal government's court.