Kassel in front of Wasserweiler: 30 million euro repayment threaten!

Kassel in front of Wasserweiler: 30 million euro repayment threaten!

The city of Kassel is plagued by enormous financial difficulties after the Administrative Court (VGH) has declared the drinking water fees illegal. The reason: a 15 percent concession tax that should not have been collected. As a result of this judgment, the municipality has to repay more than 65,000 households over 30 million euros. This not only questions the repayments, but also leads to uncertainty on how Kassel should proceed with the water fees in the future. Actually, the city wanted to recalculate the previous fees in 2025, but this planning is now being reconsidered after legal experts have registered concerns. According to city treasurer Matthias Nölke, the implementation of the judgment was too short -term to introduce the changes for 2025. Now it is waited for how and when the new notices can be created.

illegal fee calculation

As part of the procedure, several homeowners had sued the water fees of the city of Kassel. They argued that the fees were based on incorrect calculation and that the concession levy had not been properly taken into account. This was now classified by the VGH as illegal because it drove the fee calculation disproportionately. A solution is urgently needed because the city now has to take out loans to finance the repayments. A specialist lawyer emphasizes that the new fee schedule must be calculated without the controversial concession tax, which the city puts into a precarious situation. A pensioner who represents one of the plaintiffs criticizes that those responsible would have reacted much too late to the legal conditions and that a clear strategy for action would now be missing.

The city of Kassel is faced with the task of developing a legally secure and new fee model. It remains uncertain when exactly the repayment of the excessive fees to the affected households can take place. The judgment clearly shows that the city urgently has to rethink its use of water fees in order to avoid future legal disputes and financial bottlenecks. The challenges in connection with the repayment and the new fee schedule could be financially burdened by the city, which experts consider extremely problematic. This underlines the importance of proper and transparent fee calculation, such as the VKU

Now the town hall is looking forward to how this complicated situation can be solved. This week is to be informed about the exact modalities of the repayments and the creation of the new fee regulations in order to provide clarity to the affected households.