Red alarm level: District councilors warn of impending bankruptcy in Northern Hesse!

Red alarm level: District councilors warn of impending bankruptcy in Northern Hesse!

In North Hesse, a group of six absolute responsible alarm raises the drastic deterioration of the budgetary situation of its counties. Four district administrators and a district administrator who together represent around 800,000 people in their respective regions demanded more support from the federal and state governments in the Kassel district house in order to be able to cope with the challenges in the social field. The situation is already "five after twelve", as the participants emphasized, and they warn of the risk of bankruptcy in the affected counties. This reports hessenschau.de .

The district councilors, including Andreas Siebert (SPD, Kassel), Jürgen van der Horst (non-party, Waldeck-Frankenberg), Winfried Becker (SPD, Schwalm-Eder), Torsten Warnecke (SPD, Hersfeld-Rotenburg) and Nicole Rathgeber (Freie Voter, Werra-Meißner), have signed a position paper that focused on political decision-makers at state and federal level is. The increasing social security contributions and the associated financing requirement would increasingly restrict the scope of action of the municipalities.

financing gaps and increasing requirements

The cash register situation of the counties is alarming by a combination of increasing expenses and stagnating income. The Hessian district council had already pointed out the worrying budget situation in November 2024. District Administrator Becker criticized the previous expenditure policy and described the current crisis situation as urgently in need of solution. District Administrator Siebert also expressed concerns about the ability of the authorities' ability to act and the integrity of democracy itself.

A central topic of warnings is the increasing need for financing in the area of ​​social services. District Administrator Rathgeber reported on a remarkable 95 million euros in 2025 in 2020. This increase correlates with the obligation to introduce all-day care for all first graders from 2026, which brings additional financial burdens.

The hospitals in the relevant counties are also in a precarious location. Despite an existing supply mandate, many of them write red numbers, which further tightens the financial situation. The dependence on allocations from the federal government and from Land represents a significant challenge, and the district administrators are calling for an urgent review of the distribution of tax money and an adaptation of the social service laws.

political reactions and outlook

While the responsible politicians are worried about the future financial situation, the Hessian Ministry of Finance emphasizes that the financial situation of the municipalities has improved in the past ten years. This contradictory assessment suggests a lower problem, which may have been caused by the serious effects of Corona pandemic and the energy crisis of 2022. These events also led to a record -high level of debt in the entire Federal Republic, which increase to 2,446 billion euros in 2023, which corresponds to 63.6 percent of gross domestic product, as on bpb.de

The district councils stated that they see themselves in the role of "insolvency administrators" who are struggling to keep their municipalities alive. It is hoped that the position paper is heard and can make changes that secure the districts of survival in the currently challenging financial landscape.