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Dresden / Meerane (dpa / sn) – Saxony’s consumers and companies are obviously threatened with higher wastewater charges. According to municipalities, the reason is that the state has stopped funding for the rehabilitation and renewal of old sewers. The costs of such projects would therefore have to be passed on to the fee payers in the future, according to the City and Municipal Conference in Dresden.
The funding stop recently sparked outrage among Meerane’s mayor Lothar Ungerer (non-party). In an open letter, he accused the Ministry of the Environment of government style. He complained that the state was once more withdrawing money from the municipalities and worsening their financial resources. “Trust in the country is being undermined by such, in themselves unbelievable, decisions made by higher levels of government.” The city has not yet received a direct response from the ministry.
So far, the state has financially supported the upgrading of old sewers to half. According to the current funding guidelines alone, around 100 million euros were approved from 2016 to the end of 2020, as the Ministry of the Environment informed upon request. In a letter to the parliamentary groups of the CDU, SPD and Greens in the state parliament, it refers to the fact that the step now goes back to setting priorities at the local level.
In the consensus between the Ministry of Finance and municipal umbrella organizations, it was decided to continue financing from funds from the Financial Equalization Act “only at an extremely low level”. According to the information, these allocations are a source of funding for the funding guidelines.
The funding had been above average in recent years, a continuation could not be enforced in the new budget, said a spokesman. “In view of the consequences of drought, bark beetle disaster and extensive forest damage, it was not possible to continue working with funds that were not primarily intended for urban water management,” he said, explaining the ban on subsidies that was imposed in May. He stressed that applications would still be approved when the work was completed this year.
As chairman of the Götzenthal waste water association, Ungerer calculates the consequences of the subsidy stop in his letter. Its area in the district of Zwickau extends not only to the city of Meerane, but also to the neighboring communities of Schönberg and Dennheritz. The sewer network in the association’s area is around 120 kilometers long and around two thirds of the network dates from before 1993. With the discontinuation of subsidies, investments can no longer be financed, complains the local politician. Around 1.5 million euros would have to be replaced by fee payers, the municipalities or through loans.
The City and Community Day evaluates the step taken by the Ministry of the Environment as a “decision against rural areas” and points out that consumers and companies pay a waste water tax that feeds the state budget. This money should flow back and relieve the citizens.
According to the ministry, the income from this tax has fallen in recent years and amounted to just under 10.8 million euros in 2020. The surplus accumulated up to the previous year amounted to almost 36.4 million euros. The majority of them – around 75 percent – are already bound by funding notices, it said. In addition, the funds from the levy should continue to be used for sewer rehabilitation, for example for sewage treatment plants or special structures such as rainwater retention basins or pumping stations.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210616-99-11277 / 2
Source: DPA
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