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Property tax increase: Mayor require adaptation for municipalities!
On December 10, 2024, municipalities in Klagenfurt-Land discuss the increase in property tax to secure local finances.
Property tax increase: Mayor require adaptation for municipalities!
In the past few weeks, the discussion about property tax in Austria and Germany has intensified. In view of a billion -dollar deficit in the state budget, the Institute for Higher Studies (IHS) calls for an increase in property tax for homes and land. Most of the Klagenfurt-Land Mayor like Andreas Scherwitzl have spoken out for this measure in order to secure the financial stability of the communities. Scherwitzl emphasizes that property tax has not been adjusted since the 1970s, although the cost of living and real estate prices have increased significantly since then. As a result, the property tax has now mutated into a minor tax, while the expenditure of the municipalities, for example for infrastructure, continues to grow constant, such as meinzirk.at reported.
Rising lifting rates in Germany
In parallel to the situation in Austria, a study by EY shows that property tax in Germany is at a record high. In 2023, 2,671 municipalities increased their property tax rate, which corresponds to an average increase to 409 percent. This has been the greatest increase since the beginning of the surveys in 2005. In many cities and municipalities, this tax is used as a central source of income to finance important services such as the operation of swimming pools or theaters. It becomes clear that the municipalities are under pressure to improve their financial situation, especially after reforms in municipal financial equalization, which led to higher rates in many regions. So report too tagesschau.de The cities and municipalities ask the citizens to pay more.
The upcoming property tax reform will come into force from 2025 after the Federal Constitutional Court has declared the previous calculation method unconstitutional. Many municipalities see the reform as an opportunity to increase their income, which could lead to a variety of tax increases. The experts warn that the financial situation of the cities remains precarious and that citizens may continue to be affected by rising taxes.