financial situation - Rechnungshof criticizes black-green budget course
The State Audit Office is demanding a clear austerity measure from the Schwarz-Green state government in light of budget deficits. "The gap between revenues and expenses in the state budget is continuing to widen," said State Audit Office President Gaby Schafer on Friday. In the coming years, Schleswig-Holstein will be missing a billion Euro in its budget. "Even a moderate adjustment of the debt brake would not be sufficient to close these gaps." The government must declare how it intends to reduce expenses starting from 2025.
Schwarz-Green plans to spend approximately 17.9 billion Euro in the current year, financed in part with three emergency loans totaling 1.5 billion Euro (Corona emergency loan of 573 million Euro, Ukraine emergency loan of 798 million Euro, and the East Sea emergency loan of 154 million Euro). In addition, there are 130 million Euro in conjunctural debts. The state currently has a debt of around 32 billion Euro.
State Audit Office criticizes financial planning
In its remarks, the State Audit Office criticizes deficits in financial policy. Personal expenses are increasing by 400 million Euro in the current year. Cost drivers are also 725 additional positions, which incur costs of 51 million Euro. Since 2017, the state has created a total of 5,432 new positions. The rest is spent on increasing social benefits and wage increases.
Regarding the 357 employee grants, the State Audit Office called for a reduction. The approximately 60,000 civil servants received an additional 140 million Euro in 2022. An average wage supplement of around 69 Euro caused approximately 40 Euro in administrative costs.
According to current calculations, the cost of sanitation, operation, and maintenance of the University Clinic in Kiel and Lübeck until 2044 will be at least 3.7 billion Euro. At the time of contract signing with a private investor in 2014, 1.7 billion Euro was mentioned. "The UKSH will not be able to finance these high project costs on its own, even though this was originally agreed upon with the state," criticizes the authority. As the owner and guarantor, the state is therefore obligated.
"It would therefore be consistent if the state relieved the UKSH of all expenses from the investment budget," advises the State Audit Office. So far, the clinic has financed the project costs almost exclusively with loans. The consequence is continuously increasing debts and rising interest burdens. The state parliament already increased the credit limit by an additional 600 million to 2.25 billion Euro in June. According to the State Audit Office, the problem is not solved by this.
Anger over balcony railings
Large deficits also see Schafer and her team in the state's funding programs. The state once supported the purchase of photovoltaic balcony railings, shopping carts, charging stations for electric cars, or ground covers. "The overzealous and poorly managed introduction of the program also led to the fact that the processing was much too expensive: The payment of 100 Euro in funding caused an average of 68 Euro in bureaucracy costs for the state," criticized the State Audit Office.
The potential for savings, according to the authority, also exists at the tourism agency, which receives an additional 1.8 million Euro for the implementation of a new tourism strategy, although the previous one only caused costs of 165,000 Euro. These costs were also partially covered by partners.
- The Landesrechnungshof (State Audit Office) in Schleswig-Holstein has expressed concern about the state government's financial situation, citing growing budget deficits.
- The Court of Audit highlighted the issue of a household hole in the state's finances, with personal expenses increasing by 400 million Euro this year.
- In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Schwarz-Green state government has taken out three emergency loans totaling 1.5 billion Euro.
- The financial situation in Ukraine has also led to an emergency loan of 798 million Euro being approved for the state.
- The State Audit Office has advised reducing the number of employee grants, which currently cost the state around 140 million Euro every year.
- The Landesrechnungshof has raised concerns about the financial implications of the University Clinic's project costs, which are expected to reach at least 3.7 billion Euro.
