Cities push for 70% of Germany's €4.7B infrastructure fund

Cities Want More Money from Special Funds - German mayors demand €4.7B infrastructure fund shift to cities

Major Cities Demand More Funding for Urban and Rural Development

Mayors of Germany's large cities claim they do significant work for surrounding regions—and now they want more money to show for it. At a recent meeting, they also put forward additional demands.

A substantially larger share of the state's special infrastructure fund should go to cities and municipalities, the mayors of Lower Saxony insisted after talks with Minister-President Olaf Lies (SPD) in Göttingen. They are calling for 70 percent of the €4.7 billion earmarked for investments in the state's local authorities, said Hamelin's mayor, Claudio Griese (CDU), who chairs the association.

Jürgen Krogmann (SPD), mayor of Oldenburg and head of the Lower Saxony Association of Cities, explained that major cities in the state face investment needs three times higher than those of rural districts. He argued that urban centers provide many services also used by residents of smaller surrounding towns and communities.

Moreover, key responsibilities—such as schools—fall to cities and municipalities, not districts. The state government's current proposal to allocate 55 percent of the fund to cities and towns therefore falls short, the mayors argued.

"Crack Down Harder on Neglectful Property Investors"

The mayors also reiterated their demand for less bureaucracy and pushed for higher thresholds in public procurement. Direct contract awards for construction projects should be possible up to €250,000 (instead of the current €100,000 limit), while simplified tenders requiring just three bids could apply to contracts worth up to €2.5 million (rather than €1 million), said Jan Arning, chief executive of the Lower Saxony Association of Cities. The meeting was held as part of the association's broader conference.

Finally, the mayors addressed the issue of so-called problem properties—dilapidated apartment blocks left to decay by investors. Göttingen's mayor, Petra Broistedt (SPD), whose city faces several such cases, renewed calls for stronger legal tools to tackle the issue. She proposed fines of up to €500,000 for negligent investors, as well as the option to place properties under temporary trusteeship to enforce renovations. Broistedt also urged simpler procedures for declaring apartments uninhabitable. Krogmann added, "It must not be more profitable to let housing deteriorate than to maintain it."