Rostock in the emergency: Budget lock due to financial misery!

Rostock in the emergency: Budget lock due to financial misery!

A difficult blow for the city of Rostock: Mayor Eva-Maria Kröger (Die Linke) announced on July 23, 2023 the imposition of a budget lock. This measure comes into force on Thursday and is a reaction to the city's alarming financial situation. According to the mayor, the causes are diverse: increasing social loads, a weak economy, new tariff deals and the general underfunding of the cities and municipalities play a central role in this precarious situation. [n-tv] (https://www.n-tv.de/regionales/mecklenburg-vorpommern/rostock-verhaengt- Haussthangen-article25921307.html) reports that Rostock is expecting a deficit of up to 63 million euros for the current year, significantly higher than the initially planned 38 million euros.

The financial bottlenecks are also reinforced by a decline in allocations on the part of the country in the amount of eight million euros. Rostock also confronted a high tariff with an additional seven million euros in additional loads. In a statement, Finance Senator Chris von Wrycz Rekowski (SPD) emphasizes the rising costs in almost all areas and signals that the city has to face radical savings. However, mandatory tasks and contractually agreed services are still financed, while voluntary services are frozen at the current level.

effects on the citizens

The effects of the budget lock should not be underestimated. The city is planning savings of up to twelve million euros, which could also have an impact on services that many Rostockers see for granted. However, experts warn that these savings in swimming pools, local transport and other municipal services will be noticeable. [Nordkurier] (https://www.nordkurier.de/regional/rostock/nun-t-t-es-a- also-rostock-weren-sehr-Grosse-Grosse-Grosse-Probleme- 3781949) draws attention to the structural problems that continue to exist, while the systems are increasingly under pressure.

The representation of the financial emergency is no coincidence: the majority of German cities estimate their budget situation in the next five years as rather bad or very bad, according to the German Cities Day. Around 95 percent of cities are faced with these challenges. The budget lock has therefore considered a large number of cities to avert an impending financial disaster. Tagesschau reports of a worrying trend in which almost 37 percent of the cities can no longer present a balanced household.

The way forward

For the future, Kröger announced that it would submit a household consolidation concept as part of the next double budget. However, the optimism that the situation will quickly improve is small. It seems clear that the structural challenges that Rostock and many other German cities are plagued, especially by increasing social spending and the transfer of more and more tasks by the federal and state governments to the municipalities are tightened. This often happens without adequate financial support.

The clear savings and the associated restrictions could not only influence the cityscape of Rostock, but also change the lives of citizens decisively. It remains to be hoped that those responsible in the city and beyond will show a good hand in coping with this dangerous situation.