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District levy in Western Pomerania: relief despite a deficit worth millions!
In Western Pomerania-Greifswald, despite a reduction in the district levy, there is a risk of deficits running into the millions, which endanger investments.
District levy in Western Pomerania: relief despite a deficit worth millions!
The communities in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district are facing financial challenges worth millions. In order to ease the financial situation of the cities, the district has reduced the district levy from 48.5% to 42%. This levy is a mandatory payment from the municipalities to the district that is used to cover basic financial tasks. The decision to reduce this comes despite a projected deficit of a whopping 170 million euros in the district nordkurier.de reported.
The exact impact of this reduction varies from community to community. In Anklam, the reduction in the levy is expected to lead to a financial gain of around one million euros. However, a deficit of almost 4 million euros remains. Treasurer Beatrix Wittmann-Stifft expressed the fear that despite the relief, investments would remain unlikely because the deficit would have to be stabilized.
Financial cuts and austerity courses
The city of Jarmen is pursuing a strict austerity policy and plans to offset its deficits through reserves by 2028. Nevertheless, the city was denied a loan of one million euros, which is why it will use savings of 227,000 euros to close the budget gap. In Ueckermünde, on the other hand, the plus of over 800,000 euros will be used to minimize the deficit for 2025, without any new investments being planned ndr.de reported.
Pasewalk, on the other hand, could give around 870,000 euros less to the district by reducing the levy. These savings could leave money for possible investments after the deficit has been offset, but concrete plans are still pending. The Ministry of the Interior of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania reserves the final say regarding the reduction of the district levy. If the district's financial situation does not improve, in the worst case scenario the levy could rise again to 48.5%.
The voices from politics
District Administrator Michael Sack (CDU) vehemently supports reducing the district levy and describes the current financial conditions as catastrophic. He calls for urgent measures from the federal and state governments to cope with increasing spending in areas such as youth and social affairs. The district council is expected to decide on the supplementary budget in July, which could contain specific measures to deal with the deficit.