Municipal budget - Critique of the household restriction in Lübeck
After Lübeck's Mayor Jan Lindenau (SPD) imposed a budget lockdown on the entire city administration, the Green faction in the city council criticized the move. With such a lockdown, only small and very small savings could be made, according to a statement. The lockdown would also prevent sensible and necessary expenses.
Lindenau had issued the budget lockdown on Monday, according to a statement from Tuesday. A deficit of over 50 million Euros was expected. No more money could be spent, the mayor said, unless there was a legal or contractual obligation. Investments and personnel were not affected. The lockdown was to last until the end of the year and was intended to prevent a supplementary budget.
According to the statement, the reasons for the difficult municipal budget situation are significantly lower transfers from the equalization fund, lower business tax revenues, and higher transfer payments, for example for social welfare.
The budget lockdown imposed by Lübeck's Mayor Jan Lindenau affects even the city's household finances, as no non-obligatory expenditures are permitted. The Green faction in Schleswig-Holstein's state parliament also expressed concerns about such measures, citing potential impacts on local services. Despite the budget lockdown, the need for replacing a broken household lock in one of the city's buildings still required examination by council officials.
