Nordenham does without Strabs Light” - where do citizens have to save now?

Nordenham does without Strabs Light” - where do citizens have to save now?

In Nordenham, local politics has made a decisive decision that affects the future financing of road construction projects. Mayor Nils Siemen, member of the SPD, announced during a last council meeting that the city was not planning to introduce the controversial "Strabs Light". This assessment means that the citizens are not asked again to finance the road renovation. In the future, the financing through the general budget will take place instead of a contribution statute. However, this turn brings with it a few questions.

It is particularly striking that only smaller patchwork or repairs can now be carried out during road construction. The mostly rejected “Strabs Light” was a proposal by the city administration, which would have offered residents a alleviated form of cost sharing on the road construction projects. Mayor Siemen revealed little about the consultations in the city council, in which alternative financing models were discussed. One of these models should be a return to a road construction contribution statute, which was, however, rejected by the politicians.

focus on the general budget

In 2019, the old contribution statute was first overridden and officially abolished in 2022. The decision at the time meant that since then only urgent repairs and smaller measures from the city budget could be financed. This change has already had an impact on the street situation in the city, since extensive renovations have not yet been realized.

The city press spokeswoman Ivonne Solbrig made it clear that the financing of new road construction projects depends on the financial situation of the general budget. The timing and the type of projects are discussed in the next budget consultations. Solbrig said: "The possibility of investments depends on the income and fundamental financial performance, as well as the approved borrowing." This means that the municipality has to prioritize expenses and may have to shorten if the financial resources are not sufficient.

complex decision -making processes

The discussion about street financing has so far been held behind closed doors, which led to irritation in the population. Ivonne Solbrig justified this procedure with the complexity of the topic: "The topic of road construction contributions is very complex and is often emotionalized." Therefore, the Council decided to first discuss the options for road financing in non -public meetings.

The "Strabs Light", which was considered legally secure and was also used in other Lower Saxony municipalities, could not ultimately prevail. She stipulated that regulations such as the deduction of funding for residential participations and relief for owners of corner plots should come into force. But the members of the council found that these regulations were not far -reaching enough to relieve the citizens.

The coming months will be decisive for Nordenham because the city must either set priorities or have to make savings in order to continue to support the infrastructure. Citizens and Council will continue to deal with challenges that result from this financial reorientation. It remains to be seen which specific measures ultimately emerge from the consultations and how this will affect the streets of the city, as reported www.nwzonline.de .