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Tax money wasted: Ludwigshafen leaves employees without work for nine years!
In the case of the city of Ludwigshafen, a nine-year layoff for an employee cost taxpayers almost 720,000 euros.
Tax money wasted: Ludwigshafen leaves employees without work for nine years!
The city of Ludwigshafen am Rhein is currently causing a stir, and not in a positive way. An employee was laid off at full salary for nine years, while taxpayers were asked to pay a whopping 720,000 euros. The case is part of the current “Black Book” of the Taxpayers’ Association, which serves as a prime example of tax waste. This reports Mercury.
The employee, who retired in autumn 2024, not only received his salary during his release, but also bonuses and a subsidy for the job ticket. The city justified this questionable measure with the employee's “eccentric behavior” and the “idiosyncratic professional ideas” that led to his dismissal. The State Audit Office critically noted that Ludwigshafen did not bother to consider alternative work or even termination. Instead, the Court of Auditors asked the city to compensate for the financial damage and to check whether it was possible to get the money back from the former employee.
More examples of tax waste
The problems in Ludwigshafen are not an isolated case. In a similar incident, a municipality in the Westerwald also paid an official a salary for five years without him performing any work. Mayor Bernd Brato (SPD) then resigned and the municipality is now demanding almost 600,000 euros in damages from him. The State Audit Office reports on further cases that are documented in a municipal report - with a total loss of almost 1.5 million euros. These figures come from a report by SWR.
It is particularly revealing that the Palatinate district association is also affected. A senior civil servant there was also released for five years, while his deputy did not have to work for a year until early retirement. In total, the damage for the district association amounts to 490,000 euros. The Court of Auditors found that such exemptions violate the law and misuse public resources. This could have legal consequences for those responsible if the public prosecutor's office comes to similar conclusions, reports daily news.
A call for reform
The repeated grievances not only highlight the waste of taxpayers' money, but also the structural problems caused by inefficient bureaucratic regulations. The president of the Association of Taxpayers, Reiner Holznagel, calls for a clear reduction in bureaucracy and a legal brake on bureaucracy. This is the only way to strengthen citizens' trust in the rule of law and promote economic competitiveness.
These scandalous cases, which have come to light through the current black book, show that there is an urgent need for action in the administration. It remains to be seen whether those responsible will be held accountable and whether measures will finally be taken to prevent such incidents in the future.