The alliance recalls the promises made by the traffic light coalition
Mail with the donkey
The Bundestag members of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP are receiving an unusual postcard from their home communities these days. The senders remind them that aid has been promised to financially weak municipalities and that nothing has happened so far, even if the situation is becoming more and more dramatic. The message and image are unmistakable.
The postcard shows a donkey carrying heavy sacks on its back, forcing it to kneel. Next to it is: “Help your community so it doesn’t collapse under your burdens.”
For this reason the mayors, mayors and district administrators of the municipalities adhering to “For the dignity of our cities” are now writing to the members of the traffic light groups in their region. They recall the promise and explain how the situation, already difficult at the time, has drastically worsened in recent months. The points in summary:
- The financial consequences of Corona are not over yet and will continue to weigh on municipal budgets in 2023.
- The war in Ukraine is having various effects in cities and communities, for example through the reception of refugees and the exponential increase in energy costs.
- Municipalities are hit hard by inflation and rising building prices, meaning that significant wage increases are expected in the public sector.
- The two-fold increase in the key interest rate by the ECB is evident for financially weak municipalities when they take out cash and investment loans. Even an annual increase in the average interest rate of 0.1 percentage points would have serious consequences: for the municipalities of the seven federal states in which the action alliance has members, it would mean an additional burden of almost 450 million euros in 2026.
As a result, financially weak municipalities risk not being able to act. This in turn undermines citizens’ trust in local government and thus in democracy. “For the Dignity of Our Cities” therefore calls for a solution to the old federal and state government debts and adequate financial resources for municipalities.
Further information
The cities and districts 63 municipalities of seven federal states, home to some 8.5 million people, have joined forces in the action alliance “For the dignity of our cities”. Municipalities have been particularly affected by the structural change, which is why they have low tax revenues and high expenditures, especially in the social field. As a result, municipalities are particularly disadvantaged by the financial distribution described above and have been forced to borrow to a particular extent in order to be able to fulfill the tasks assigned to them.
The members of the alliance are: Bochum, Bottrop, Brandenburg an der Havel, Cottbus, Cuxhaven, Dinslaken, Dorsten, Dortmund, Duisburg, Ennepe-Ruhr district, Essen, Frankenthal, Geestland, Gelsenkirchen, Ginsheim-Gustavsburg, Gladbeck, Hagen, Hamm, Hattingen, Herne, Kaiserslautern, Koblenz, Krefeld, Lahnstein, Leverkusen, Löhne, Ludwigshafen, Lünen, Mainz, Mayen, Mettmann, Moers, Mönchengladbach, Mörfelden-Walldorf, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Neuwied, Oberhausen, Obertshausen, Offenbach, Pirmasens, Recklinghausen, district of Recklinghausen, Remscheid, Saarbrücken, Salzgitter, Schwerin, Schwerin, Solingen, Trier, district of Unna, Voerde, Völklingen, Waldbröl, Werne, Wesel, district of Wesel, Wismar, Witten, Worms, Wülfrath, Wuppertal and Zweibrücken .
Artist Jacques Tilly created the satirical car shown on the postcard. Tilly and his team build the carriages for the Shrove Monday procession in Düsseldorf. They are known for their sculptures clearly portraying and scathingly criticizing the current political situation, grievances and the powerful. Car photos from Düsseldorf are published every year in the media around the world. Read more about Jacques Tilly and his team There is… here.
| Source: Action Alliance “For the dignity of our cities
