"The federal government must finally understand": Municipalities plead with Merz for help - "We can't take it anymore!"

The budget situation is dire – not only at the federal level, but also in the cities. More than a dozen mayors are deploring their woes in an open letter to Chancellor Merz and the state premiers. They also make a clear demand.

In a joint letter to Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the state premiers, the mayors of the state capitals of all 13 federal states are calling for a fundamental restructuring of municipal finances. "The gap between municipal revenues and expenditures is widening," the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) quotes from the letter. This is primarily due to rising social costs, but also to decisions such as the introduction of the Deutschlandticket, which contribute to the underfunding of municipalities in public transport.

"The federal government must finally understand: Municipalities are absolutely at the limit of their capacity. We can't do it anymore!" said the initiator of the unusual alliance of all state capitals, Stuttgart Mayor Frank Nopper of the CDU, to the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Specifically, the mayors of the state capitals are demanding that the oft-quoted principle "whoever orders must pay" finally apply to the relationship between the federal government and municipalities. "We call on the federal government to provide for full and appropriate compensation from the outset in every draft law that entails future burdens on municipal resources."

The mayors are also demanding reparations for past decisions: "Anyone who has ordered without paying must make up for it." Therefore, the federal government must either increase municipalities' share of the sales tax or relieve them of certain responsibilities. Furthermore, the federal and state governments must assume so-called legacy debts—that is, "excessive municipal cash advances that are demonstrably caused by inadequate financing of delegated tasks."

The leaders of all state capitals of the 13 federal states have joined the cross-party initiative of the CDU mayor of Stuttgart, from Kiel's SPD city hall chief Ulf Kämpfer to the Green Belit Onay in Hanover and the independent Noosha Aubel in Potsdam to the FDP man Dirk Hilbert in Dresden, where Merz was a guest today.