Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – This Monday evening, the state and local authorities are again negotiating the distribution of the costs for the approximately 130,000 Ukrainian refugees in the south-west. The Joint Finance Commission with representatives of the green-black state government and of the city, community and district councils will meet this Monday evening (7:00 p.m.) in the Ministry of Finance in Stuttgart. The chief executive of the district council, Alexis von Komorowski, told the German Press Agency before the meeting that the state was expected to “reimburse the flight-related net additional expenses that they incur in relation to the Ukraine refugees and the housing costs of the other recognized people seeking protection”.
The background is that the Ukrainian 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, the municipalities have additional financial requirements. According to reports, a high three-digit million amount is at stake here. The state is under pressure because the federal government is providing significantly less money than the states are asking for. Baden-Württemberg will receive an additional 197 million euros from Berlin in the coming year, but the costs are estimated to be many times over.
The talks will probably also deal with overcoming the energy and inflation crisis. The state and municipalities must jointly finance the third relief package from the traffic light federal government. The state has to spend 3.1 billion euros and cities and municipalities 1.7 billion euros. The municipalities also say that the high inflation is causing high additional costs for the maintenance and construction of new buildings.
