Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – After the agreement with the state on a joint financial package, the municipalities complained about a lack of investment in important future tasks. The president of the municipal council, Steffen Jäger, said on Tuesday in a joint press release with the state government: “If you look honestly, the funds are currently not even enough to finance the existing tasks and legal claims.” There is significantly more money from the state for the care of refugees and childcare. But urgent issues such as the turnaround in traffic and climate protection are not included in the agreement. From Jäger’s point of view, “they could not be advanced in the next two years”.
City council head Peter Kurz added that the talks had shown “that the gap between the needs of existing and new benefit commitments and mandatory tasks on the one hand and the available financial resources on the other hand has never been as great as it is at the moment”. In short, Jäger and also the President of the District Council, Joachim Walter, are therefore urging that there must now be a quick review of state standards and tasks. Walter complained that the districts had to vouch for the state as “financial guarantors” for school inclusion and investments in hospitals. “All the more important is the now agreed task and standard criticism, which should create new financial room for manoeuvre,” said Walter.
