Schwerin (dpa/mv) – The state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is helping the municipalities with a three-digit million amount to deal with the energy crisis. On the one hand, this involves additional aid and, on the other hand, the advancement of services that have to be paid anyway, as Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) made clear after a five-hour municipal summit on Monday evening in Schwerin.
The municipalities themselves are to bring in 50 million euros from their additional tax revenue. All in all, the cities, communities and rural districts are to have 185 million euros more at their disposal in the coming year than previously planned.
Among other things, the infrastructure flat rate for investments, for example in roads and schools, is to increase from 100 to 150 million euros in the coming year. An additional ten million euros are to be made available over the next three years for special needs allocations to cash-strapped municipalities so that they too can invest. There should be an extra five million euros for civil protection. The reimbursement of the higher costs in the housing benefit offices as a result of the planned major housing benefit reform by the federal government should be brought forward in order to relieve the cities and communities. There should be ten million euros to pay higher energy costs from schools of all sponsorship, five million euros for the daycare centers.
The chairman of the town and community council, Wismar’s mayor Thomas Beyer (SPD), praised the result of the summit, as did the chairman of the district council, Ludwigslust-Parchim’s district administrator Stefan Sternberg (SPD).
For the additional expenditure of the state, a supplementary budget with an energy fund of a good 1.1 billion euros is to be launched in the state parliament on Thursday. Of this, 600 million euros are to come from the federal aid packages and the rest from the state.
