Two Years in Crisis--Municipal Finances Remain Sustainable Nonetheless/ Zwei Jahre im Krisenmodus--die kommunalen Finanzen bleiben trotzdem stabil

Federal and state policies have massively supported the German municipalities during the coronavirus crisis. As a result, municipal budgets in Germany have had a small surplus in 2020 and in 2021. The precise reasons for these surpluses are quite different in both years. In 2020, the additional expe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Wirtschaftsdienst (Hamburg) 2022-08, Vol.102 (8), p.642
Main Author: Florian Boettcher, Ronny Freier
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coronaviruses
Government finance
Local finance
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Summary:Federal and state policies have massively supported the German municipalities during the coronavirus crisis. As a result, municipal budgets in Germany have had a small surplus in 2020 and in 2021. The precise reasons for these surpluses are quite different in both years. In 2020, the additional expenditure as well as the enormous decrease in municipal tax revenue could only be overcome by large spending policies at federal and state level. In 2021, in contrast, the municipalities were back to collecting significant taxes themselves and were mostly self-sustaining. Still, municipal finances in 2021 profited from permanent policy changes regarding the trade tax levy (Gewerbesteuerumlage) and the federal government's increased co-funding of accommodation costs. Die kommunalen Finanzen stehen seit Beginn der Coronakrise unter besonderer Beobachtung. Die deutsche Politik hat zurecht erkannt, dass bei der Bekampfung der Krise eine handlungsfahige Kommunalpolitik zwingend notwendig ist. Tatsachlich haben die kommunalen Haushalte sowohl 2020 als auch 2021 mit Uberschussen abgeschlossen. Wie dieser Beitrag zeigt, sind die Grunde dafur sehr unterschiedlich. Die auskommliche Finanzierung der Kommunen ist Garant fur die effiziente Bewaltigung der Krise vor Ort und die Rekordzahlen bei den kommunalen Investitionen sind der richtige Impuls in der Wirtschaftskrise.
ISSN:0043-6275
DOI:10.1007/S10273-022-3255-8