Suche
Mein Konto
Major cities in North Rhine-Westphalia sue: financial dispute reaches the Constitutional Court!
Eight NRW cities, including Solingen, are suing the state for unfair municipal financing - hearing on October 28, 2025.
Major cities in North Rhine-Westphalia sue: financial dispute reaches the Constitutional Court!
Something is brewing in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) that is putting the cities' finances to the test. Today, on October 28, 2025, the major cities of Bonn, Bottrop, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Münster, Solingen and Wuppertal are in the dock at the Constitutional Court in Münster. The hearing on their lawsuits begins at 10:30 a.m. and revolves around the controversial municipal financing for the years 2022 to 2024. One of the large cities affected - and that's all of them - feels financially disadvantaged by the state.
The core of the dispute is the different treatment of independent cities, such as the plaintiffs, and the cities that are part of the district. This inequality in the calculation of their tax capacity results in lower and unfair key allocations from the country. According to [Stern](https://www.stern.de/gesellschaft/regional/nordrhein-westfalen/nrw-verfassungsgerichtshof–streit-um-finanzen–nrw-grossstaedte- Klage-gegen-land-36166762.html), the affected cities see the existing municipal financing laws as a violation of their right to self-government.
Criticism of municipal financing
The cities argue that the legal requirements not only violate self-government, but also create an unjustified discrepancy in the assessment of tax capacity in the budget law. This criticism runs through all the complaints from the eight major cities. The plaintiffs feel they are in a worse position when it comes to financial allocations compared to smaller cities and municipalities that are affiliated with a district. This imbalance continues to fuel discussions about municipal financing in North Rhine-Westphalia. Zeit reports that this wave of lawsuits is not only coming up for the years 2022 to 2024, but that earlier complaints against what they see as unfair financial laws are also still pending.
It remains exciting to see what the Constitutional Court's ruling will be. The decision could have far-reaching consequences for financial policy in North Rhine-Westphalia and could mean a fundamental reorganization of municipal financing for the cities affected. The constitutional judges must now discuss whether the arguments put forward by the cities are valid. We will find out what speaks against this at a later date.
The situation shows once again how important it is that the financial conditions for all municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia are fair and transparent. It remains to be hoped that the differences will be resolved soon so that the cities can look to the future with a clear financial perspective. There is more about this on [Deutschlandfunk](https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/acht-nrw-staedte- Klages-vor-verfassungsgerichtshof-100.html), although the exact publication of the judgment is currently still open.