Court of Auditors criticized: More and more staff at the state

Administration - Court of Auditors criticized: More and more staff at the state

The State Audit Office criticized the personnel policy of the state government. With the budget for 2024/2025, the state government created further new positions, the Audit Office stated in its published Financial Report of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on Tuesday. This development, which had already been observed, continued unabated with over 1,000 new positions in 2024. The criticism triggered a debate in state politics.

Rechnungshof-President Martina Johannsen warned: "With an increasing number of state employees, there is a significant increase in personnel expenses." In addition, a large administration is not automatically a good administration. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, according to the latest census on May 15, 2022, still had 1.57 million inhabitants – 2.4 percent fewer than in 2011. The ruling party SPD referred to the fact that 657 of the 1,000 new jobs in this year were for teachers.

FDP calls for state austerity measures

Critical voices came from the opposition, especially in view of the declining population of the state. The financial policy spokesperson of the Liberals, René Domke, called for a streamlining of the administration. The AfD financial politician Martin Schmidt stated: "It is not acceptable that in a state with a declining population, the administration continues to grow."

Digitalization is lagging – "Risk"

According to the audit office, the state and the municipalities are lagging behind in the future topic of digitalization. One year after the statutory deadline for the Online Access Act (OZG) ended on December 31, 2022, the state administration had only offered 20 percent of all administrative services electronically, complained Johannsen. The same applied to the services that the municipalities were supposed to provide in accordance with the OZG. The Landesrechnungshof sees a major risk in the slow digitalization for the modernization and performance of the administration in its words of its president.

CEO of the Tourism Association overpaid

An audit at the Tourism Association Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as a recipient of state funding revealed, according to the report, that the managing director has been overpaid since 2019. The association allegedly violated the prohibition on betterment for beneficiaries, so Johannsen. According to the information, the manager was supposed to be paid according to the salary group B 2, but was actually paid according to B 5. The difference is said to be around 1,500 euros per month.

The manager's salary is paid from state funds. In addition, he and his wife were allowed to use their service car privately – a practice that Johannsen also criticized. The managing director of the Tourism Association defended the payment to Tobias Woitendorf. "For the remuneration of our managing director, the salary group B5 is decisive, not B2," he explained to the German Press Agency on request. "The salary group B5 was part of the requested and approved economic plans of the TMV as well as the last budgets of the state, which were passed by the state parliament."

The competent Economy Ministry stated that the tourism association's economic plan has been adjusted. "There is no B5 (specific budget item) for bike path construction", a spokesperson announced. "This was first made transparent in the state budget 2022/23 and passed by the parliament."

No plan for bike path construction

According to the State Audit Office, there is no plan for bike path construction in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern at the state government level. In the first responsible Energy Ministry, there was neither an overview of the inventory and condition nor a clear plan for the creation of a bike lane network, according to Johannsen.

Every fifth booking was incorrect

The State Audit Office audited 2.381 of the 45.7 million bookings of the state administration in 2022, according to their own statements. Every fifth had significant errors, it was stated. However, this is not dramatic. "Since the revenues and expenses were properly documented with only a few exceptions, this does not speak against an exoneration of the state government", Johannsen said.

1. The State Court of Audit in Schwerin criticized the personnel policy of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state government.
2. FDP's financial policy spokesperson Rene Domke called for a streamlining of the administration due to the increasing number of state employees.
3. According to the State Court of Auditors, digitalization is lagging behind in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and its municipalities, posing a major risk for administration modernization.
4. The financial politician of the AfD in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Martin Schmidt, criticized the growth of the administration in a state with a declining population.
5. The governing party SPD defended the creation of new teacher positions in the state budget, totaling 657 of the 1,000 new positions.
6. An audit of the Tourism Association Mecklenburg-Western Pomeran revealed that its managing director had been overpaid since 2019, violating the prohibition against betterment for beneficiaries.
7. The Economy Ministry of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania stated that the tourism association's economic plan had been adjusted, addressing concerns regarding the misuse of budget funds.
8. The State Court of Audit found no plan for bike path construction in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania at the state government level, citing a lack of clarity and oversight in the responsible Energy Ministry.

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