The city of Lambrecht has accumulated a good eight million euros in debt by financing current expenses. With the “Partnership for Debt Relief of Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate” program, the state is taking over almost 6.6 million euros of these liquidity loans, said Peter Baumann, head of the finance department of the Lambrecht municipality administration. The city will have to pay off the remaining amount of a good 1.4 million euros over the next 30 years.
With the start of the program, the municipal debt relief fund, from which the city has previously received 181,600 euros annually, will end, explained Baumann. The state’s interest rate hedging shield, from which almost 34,000 euros have so far flowed to Lambrecht annually, will also be discontinued. “The country gives us something with one hand and takes something away from us with the other hand,” commented Mayor Karl-Günter Müller (FWG).
There is a threat of tax increases
Nevertheless, Müller believes it is “advisable” to take part in the debt relief program. If the city does not participate, it will have to repay the eight million euros in liquidity loans alone, Baumann said. The municipal supervisory authority also expects participation. As Baumann further explained, municipalities will not be allowed to take out loans to finance their current expenses in the future, but will have to balance their budgets. “We don’t have enough money right now,” said Hanne Hartmann (SWG). This means the city is “being forced to increase municipal taxes; that can’t be our intention,” said Hartmann. According to Baumann, the assessment rate for property tax B would have to be increased to 915 percentage points in order to balance the budget. If the city does not take part in the program, taxes would have to be increased much more, Jens Fadenholz (SPD) pointed out.
“We have to defend ourselves against the fact that the communities don’t get enough money,” demanded Hartmann. “The communities have to come together and sue.” Peter Seelmann (CDU) had “absolutely no understanding of the fact that the state of Rhineland-Palatinate is letting the communities bleed dry.” This “brazen policy against the citizens breeds radical parties.” If the city is forced to make further savings, “Lambrecht will become even less attractive as a place to live and do business, and a downward spiral will result,” warned Hermann Bolz (CDU). “We have no choice but to take part in the program,” said Hartmann resignedly. The decision must be made in the first months of next year.
2023-09-16 14:02:41
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