Reutlingen (dpa / lsw) – Reutlingen’s Mayor Thomas Keck (SPD) has drawn attention to the almost hopeless financial situation in the municipalities with clear words. “It is a precarious situation in which several catastrophic developments come together. Therefore the urgent request to the top: We need financial resources, not only here in Reutlingen,” said Keck in an interview with the “Reutlinger General-Anzeiger” on Saturday.
First Corona and now the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, together with the associated energy crisis, have dramatically worsened the situation. “We already have more refugees in Baden-Württemberg than in 2015. In Reutlingen alone we will have to take in more than 300 people by the end of the year. We will not be able to avoid occupying the first festival halls sometime from October. And with permanent accommodation, for what the Halls are unsuitable. Social conflicts are programmed.”
In view of the energy crisis, one cannot wait until a federal-state commission adopts any paper sometime in March 2023. “It takes cash, in the next six weeks. It’s getting more difficult everywhere. The public utilities are in trouble, smaller ones are threatened with bankruptcy,” said Keck. He sees no light at the end of the tunnel. “Before the war broke out, I would have said that the bottom would be noticeable from 2024. Now I can no longer maintain this statement because I only see downward movements.”
