The Munich City Council has managed to push forward the municipal budgets for next year. However, despite the fact that the income of the Munich city council has increased in recent years, the balance of the municipal accounts project that the third German city is closer to bankruptcy: the debt continues to draw an increasing curve and the capacity of economic maneuver is increasingly limited.
The mayor of Munich, the social democrat Dieter Reiter, has been warning for years that municipal budgets need to be reformulated to cut expenses and prioritize those projects that are essential for the development of the city. Now, their warnings are reflected in the alarming figures that the debt has reached. Although the budget for 2025 foresees a surplus of 235 million, almost half of that money will be used to pay debts.
The problem with Munich’s budgets lies in the fact that, despite the continued increase in collection (it is estimated that by 2025, revenue will reach 9.3 billion euros, 200 million more than in 2024), it is not doing so at the necessary rate to cover the city council. able to cover expenses. Only the investments approved for these years will require the granting of new credits worth 7,710 million euros, which will raise the total debt to almost 11,670 million in 2028.
Painful adjustments: criticism from the opposition
Faced with this situation, the Munich City Council has begun to apply cuts in key areas. Some of the projects for it have been paralyzed and with regard to sectors such as culture or the environment, important adjustments have been made. However, according to the leader of the Greens, Sebastian Weisenburger, the budget approved for next year continues to invest in the essentials: “We have approved a budget that lays the foundations for this city’s budget. We are investing where it is most needed: around 5,000 Millions will go to education and social services. That fills me with pride. Affordable housing also continues to be a priority,” explained the other leg of the Munich coalition government on the portal. .
From the opposition, criticism has not been slow in coming. CSU leader Manuel Pretzl has accused the coalition government, made up of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Greens, of bringing the city to the brink of bankruptcy in just five years. “If it were not for an unexpected increase in income, this budget would not have gone ahead,” he said, recalling that the policies practiced by the Greens, such as traffic restrictions and permanent works, are harming the business sector.
For his part, Jörg Hoffmann, leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), has not hidden his indignation at the local government’s lack of dialogue with the opposition. “We have proposed enough ideas to improve the municipal budget, but they have all been ignored. This does not favor a balanced democracy,” says the liberal politician.
