Status date: November 15, 2024.
Bild: Imago | Shotshop
The debts of Lower Saxony‘s municipalities reached a new record level last year. According to the Court of Auditors, the total debt is almost 15 billion euros.
This means that total debt rose by 7.2 percent within a year and reached a “sad record” at the end of 2023, as the Lower Saxony State Audit Office announced. At the end of 2022, total debt was around 13.9 billion euros. At the same time, last year the municipalities’ expenditure exceeded their income by almost 1.4 billion euros.
Expenses are rising faster than income
“This is the worst financial result in the last five years,” said the President of the State Audit Office, Sandra von Klaeden. The reason for this: Although tax revenue in the municipalities increased, the current expenditure of the cities and municipalities rose faster than their income, as the State Audit Office announced.
For investments in roads and buildings, the municipalities had to take out loans of around 1.1 billion euros – the so-called investment loans rose to around 13.9 billion euros. Liquidity loans to cover short-term needs for liquid funds, on the other hand, fell by around 102 million euros to around 979 million euros compared to 2022, according to the information.
This topic in the program:
Bremen Eins, Rundschau in the morning, November 15, 2024, 7 a.m
