Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – On Friday evening, the state and local authorities again negotiated the distribution of the costs for the approximately 115,000 Ukrainian refugees. The Joint Finance Commission with representatives of the state government and of the city, community and district councils met on Friday evening in Stuttgart. Shortly before it was unclear whether there would be an agreement. The municipalities want a surcharge from the state in the hundreds of millions.
The financial talks are overshadowed by the Ukraine war and the corona pandemic. Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz (Greens) fears that the economy and tax revenues will collapse this year and therefore intends to spend relatively little more. However, the municipalities recently insisted that the state would assume all of the costs.
The background is that the first refugees have been receiving Hartz IV benefits since June 1 and are no longer classified as asylum seekers. As a result of this system change, cities and municipalities have additional financial needs.
