Financial crisis in Bremerhaven: Budget is threatened with collapse - what now?

Financial crisis in Bremerhaven: Budget is threatened with collapse - what now?

The financial wave is rolling strong in Bremerhaven: The Bremen Senate is planning to deal with the city's budget, and the pressure on the coffers is becoming more intense than ever. The city's budget is actually on the table, but the prospects are anything but rosy. The red-green-red Senate is expected to reject the Bremerhaven budget. This could lead to the first rejection of a municipal budget in the history of the state, as butenunbinnen.de reports.

Now the situation is that if the budget actually falls through, the city would have to develop a new draft. During the transition period, Bremerhaven is only allowed to make emergency connections and provide meager resources for mandatory tasks; New projects are therefore off the table. On paper there is a deficit of up to 95 million euros, which accounts for almost 10 percent of the overall budget. This situation is already causing a lot of controversy among political actors.

Financial difficulties and a debt situation

The city argues that the state of Bremen is also responsible, because Bremerhaven does not only see the structural deficits as its own failure. Treasurer Torsten Neuhoff from the CDU found clear words: More support from the state is essential. The Bremen Senate, however, sees it differently and plans to reject the budget because of the violation of the debt brake and existing austerity requirements, as well [weser-kurier.de].

The CDU parliamentary group in Bremerhaven, led by Thorsten Raschen, speaks of “unrealistic savings of 50 million euros” that could not be implemented. Given the high level of debt, it is hardly feasible for the city to invest in important infrastructure such as schools. Raschen also calls for talks with the Senate to defuse the situation.

Impact on communities across the country

The problems in Bremerhaven are not unique. The financial situation of many municipalities in Germany has deteriorated drastically. A survey by the German Association of Cities shows that 95 percent of cities assess their budget situation for the next five years as rather bad or very bad. 37 percent of cities can no longer present a balanced budget. City Council President Markus Lewe speaks of a drastic turn for the worse, and citizens are increasingly feeling the consequences of this misery, be it through the dismantling of leisure activities or longer processing times in the authorities, according to the analysis tagesschau.de.

The Association of Cities not only demands that no new tasks that are not financially covered be passed on to the municipalities, but also that the debt brake be reformed. A problem that is not exclusively in the hands of cities requires a rethinking of financial policy.

What will happen next for Bremerhaven remains exciting. The fact is: the financial air is getting thinner and every step must be carefully considered. There are crucial decisions to be made for the future of the city and its citizens.