District of Herford demands more money: municipalities in acute financial shortage!

District of Herford demands more money: municipalities in acute financial shortage!

Düsseldorf, Deutschland - The financial situation in the Herford district has drastically intensified and those responsible are alerted. District Administrator Jürgen Müller and the mayors of the nine municipalities sent a strong position paper to Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst in Düsseldorf, in which they urgently ask for more financial support. The call comes because the tasks that come to the municipalities are becoming more and more numerous and extensive, while the grants from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia stagnate. "All of this will not be implementable without adequate financing," criticizes Müller and appeals to the state's constitutional obligation to provide appropriate means to the municipalities, such as Kreis-herford.de reported.

In the past eight years, the circular levy from 129.3 million euros rose to EUR 178.4 million in 2024 in 2016, which has a great impact on municipal households. In addition to the urgent demand for an adaptation of the financial resources, the position paper from the federal and state governments requires adequate financing of tasks such as integration assistance and nursing aid. The youth welfare levy has almost doubled, while the key allocations of the country have not grown accordingly during this period. As a result, the municipalities are in an emergency from which no way out without support, as well as de.wikipedia.org determined.

The challenges concern different areas, including municipal heat planning, the traffic transition towards environmentally friendly buses and securing the infrastructure. Müller emphasizes that the expansion of legal standards is no longer durable due to a shortage of skilled workers. The Herford district, known for its densely populated structure, faces the risk of not even being able to hold the "status quo". Responsibility for the financial burdens urges those responsible for an immediate action in order to ensure local ability to act.