Municipalities - Municipal leadership resigns - Ministry regrets the move
Following the resignation of the entire municipal leadership in Bosenbach (Kusel district) due to a lack of budget funds, the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of the Interior has regretted this step. "Due to an unbalanced budget, the municipality's liabilities will increase at the expense of future generations," a ministry spokeswoman told the German Press Agency on Saturday. The state is expected to take over 2.7 million euros of Bosenbach's debt next year. The payments from the municipal financial equalization scheme for the municipality amounted to just under 230,000 euros in the current year.
Bosenbach's mayor Martin Volles and all members of the municipal council had resigned as one. The move was a reaction to the implementation of the state financial equalization law in Rhineland-Palatinate, Volles (non-party) said on Friday. "According to this, a balanced budget must be presented. Because we are a rural area and have hardly any sources of income, we would have to drastically increase the rate of property tax, for example. However, we cannot and do not want to impose this on our citizens."
The move is reminiscent of the Palatinate town of Freisbach. Here, the local council and mayor announced their resignation on August 8. They had criticized the fact that the municipality with around 1,200 inhabitants would not receive budget approval due to the new state financial equalization law and a new direction from the municipal supervisory authority. According to the council members, they did not resign because they no longer wanted to, but because they were no longer able to shape things due to the lack of a budget.
Of course, the state government is pursuing the goal of achieving living conditions that are as equal as possible in the towns and villages of the state and minimizing inequality through redistribution, the Ministry of the Interior announced on Saturday. This is one of the reasons for the municipal financial equalization. It is the responsibility of the municipality to decide, for example, whether to increase the collection rates or operate facilities together with other municipalities. And they are not left to their own devices. "However, local authorities have always been legally obliged to balance their budgets. The requirement to balance the budget is prescribed by law in all federal states - including Rhineland-Palatinate - in the respective municipal code."
Only a few days ago, following the resignation of Freisbach 's political leadership in protest against the financial policy, the new mayor Jochen Ricklefs (non-party) and 14 elected council members took office in the Palatinate town.
Volles said that they had been aware of the events in Freisbach, but that they had not really set an example. "We recently sat together for three hours and thought about where the money should come from. We didn't find a way out." The move is a sign "that we can't reconcile this with ourselves". The village with around 690 inhabitants is in a spiral. "Several roads need to be repaired, the swimming pool and community center cost money. It all leaves no room to breathe."
As a temporary solution, he is prepared to continue for a few more weeks. "But no longer," emphasized Volles. "The office is no longer an option for me, the framework conditions would have to change first."
The state financial equalization law passed by the state parliament at the end of November last year had become necessary because the Rhineland-Palatinate Constitutional Court declared the previous system of municipal financial equalization unconstitutional in December 2020 and demanded a "needs-based financial equalization". With the equalization, the state ensures that the municipalities have the funds to enable them to carry out their mandatory tasks and a minimum of voluntary self-administration tasks. Local authorities take on state tasks that have been transferred to them. For example, they look after school buildings, shoulder social and youth welfare tasks or provide accommodation for refugees.
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- The situation in Bosenbach (Kusel district) mirrors that of the Palatinate town of Freisbach, where the local council and mayor announced their resignation due to budgetary constraints caused by the new state financial equalization law.
- The Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of the Interior will take over 2.7 million euros of Bosenbach's debt next year, as the municipality's budget funds were insufficient to meet their obligations.
- According to Volles, the mayor of Bosenbach, increasing property taxes drastically to balance the budget would be unjustifiable for the community's residents.
- The Ministry of the Interior in Rhineland-Palatinate is responsible for ensuring that municipalities have the necessary funds to carry out their mandatory tasks, as part of the municipal financial equalization scheme.
- Freisbach's new mayor Jochen Ricklefs and 14 elected council members took office after the previous leadership resigned in protest against the financial policy in August 2021.
Source: www.stern.de
