District of Vorpommern-Greifswald, despite the deficit, lowers the circular levy!

District of Vorpommern-Greifswald, despite the deficit, lowers the circular levy!

Vorpommern-Greifswald, Deutschland - The financial situation in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district remains tense. After all, the district council today decided to reduce the circular levy from 48.5 percent to 42 percent. This represents a noticeable relief of the municipalities, which means that they can save around 14 million euros. Despite a budget deficit of around 74 million euros, it has not been possible to further increase the district levy rate, which is considered a little ray of hope in the desolate budget situation. Sascha Ott, the chairman of the Finance Committee, emphasizes that the financial situation is particularly concerned with young people and future generations. The social and the youth area urgently require more support than they have been provided by the federal government and the country. Opinions about the reduction of the levy diverge; While some factions mostly advocated a lowering to 40 percent, these proposals were rejected and an application from the CDU finally accepted to 42 percent (52 yes votes, 7 votes against) reports the Nordkurier

District Administrator Michael Sack (CDU) commented on the catastrophic financial framework and demands measures by the federal and state governments. "The supplementary budget is described as a financial break and a call for help," explains Ott. With a comprehensive municipal finance analysis, one tries to document the alarming deterioration of the finances of the district municipalities, which seriously endangers the municipal self -government. The district has the highest district levy set across the country and will also have to cope with a new maximum rate of 44 percent for budget planning 2026/27 places NDR clear .

budget problems at federal and state levels

Unfortunately, Western Pomerania-Greifswald is not alone with its financial worries. At the federal and state levels, the counties face deficits of a total of 2.6 billion euros in 2024, which represents a deterioration of around 800 million euros compared to the previous year. It is particularly striking that 80 percent of counties, i.e. 240 out of 294, have great difficulty compensating for their households. The German District Council therefore calls for a tripling of the municipal share in sales tax, since the ongoing allocations to the circles are too low As can be read on the website of the district council .

Expenditures for social services are increasingly cut into the coffers of the counties and have already risen to 47.2 percent of the total municipal expenditure. This means that the counties have to find new ways to tackle the problems of their budget financing. This not only has to find new solutions in the district council, but also on higher levels in the federal and state governments are required to rethink so as not to continue to burden future generations.