District-free cities sue NRW state over finance law
Eight independent cities in North Rhine-Westphalia have once again lodged a constitutional complaint with the state's Constitutional Court. This was announced by the court in Münster on Monday. Following a complaint against the Municipal Financing Act (GFG) for the year 2022, Bonn, Bottrop, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Münster, Solingen and Wuppertal are now also taking action against the law for the year 2023. On behalf of all independent cities, they are complaining about unequal treatment in the state's municipal financial equalization. It is not yet clear when the complaints will be heard.
When submitting the first complaint last year, the NRW Association of Cities complained that the legislator had differentiated between independent and district municipalities for the first time with the GFG 2022 when determining tax capacity, although the key allocations are determined uniformly. According to the Association of Cities, this leads to a redistribution of 110 million euros from the independent cities to the district municipalities.
The districts municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia may argue that the new finance law's distinction between independent and district municipalities in determining tax capacity, as stated in the GFG 2022, negatively impacts their finances, as highlighted in the cities' constitutional complaint. The municipalities also contend that this differentiation violates the principles of equality and fairness enshrined in the German Constitution.
Source: www.dpa.com
