Financial difficulties are having an impact: Leipzig has made drastic cuts to its first seven road construction projects

Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar: Zum deutschen Artikel.

Will we find, from 2030 onwards, that Leipzig is no longer able to launch any major construction projects at all because there is simply no financial leeway left in the budget? That is the question on everyone’s lips. For the past three years, the budget has been spiralling completely out of control, completely overwhelmed by mandatory tasks for which the federal and state governments are not providing sufficient funding. And at federal level, there is not even an initiative in sight to change this dire situation in the slightest.

Not even the much-heralded agreement between the federal and state governments at the Minister-Presidents’ Conference on 25 June will change anything. Already, financial constraints are forcing Leipzig to cut back on key infrastructure projects.

Normally, a major city like Leipzig’s own tax revenue should be sufficient to fund all its discretionary tasks and investments. However, this money is being swallowed up by the federal and state governments’ unfunded statutory obligations.

Although Torsten Bonew, the city’s finance mayor, cannot yet put an exact figure on this funding shortfall, it is likely to be well in the region of 1 billion euros.

German Association of Cities sees no relief

Leipzig is not alone in facing this funding shortfall. The German Association of Cities estimates that, as a result of this trend, German local authorities will have to take on 32 billion euros in debt this year alone.

And whilst the federal and state governments were patting themselves on the back for their seemingly helpful deal of 25 June, the German Association of Cities could only conclude, almost immediately, that this deal achieves absolutely nothing . This is because the solution reached is only intended to apply to future legislation, for which the federal government has agreed to cover 80 per cent of the costs. It does not apply to legislation that has already been passed. Yet it is precisely these measures that are causing the local authorities to suffer.

“The three leading local government associations are critical of the fact that the causes of the local authorities’ current record annual deficit of 30 billion euros are hardly being addressed. This is because the rules on ‘causal connection’ are intended to apply only to new legislation and not to existing laws, which have been a major factor in the record deficit. Furthermore, whilst there have been declarations of intent, no concrete decisions have yet been taken on how local authorities can be relieved of the high costs arising from federal social legislation,” commented the German Association of Cities on 26 June.

The first road construction projects have been scrapped

And the hole in Leipzig’s budget has long since made itself felt: key infrastructure projects are being cancelled, postponed or scaled back to such an extent that they can no longer be described as comprehensive measures.

The BSW parliamentary group wanted to know exactly this. For this crisis is also rendering years of preliminary planning obsolete. The city must cut back on its own contribution. Ultimately, the municipal utilities will be left to build on their own, and nothing will change regarding the outdated road cross-sections.

In response to an enquiry from the BSW parliamentary group, the Planning Department confirmed: “Before construction begins, fundamental redesigns are required – or will be required for the first time in 2026 – in seven projects. Due to the city’s strained financial situation, significant cuts had to be made to the investment budget for 2027/2028 and beyond.

As a result of the resulting shortfall in planning and construction funds for the ‘Main Arteries Base Module’ (BMH) measures, ongoing projects were reviewed to determine whether the L-Group could carry out the work independently. As a result, a number of projects were identified that could be carried out in this way, as well as those that can only be implemented with a minimum level of co-construction by the MTA (so-called ‘Option 2’ measures), as opposed to a complex expansion. These projects must therefore be redesigned accordingly.”

And this does not affect just any construction projects, but rather the renewal of Georg-Schumann-Straße between Wiederitzscher Straße and the S-Bahn bridge – a project that has been overdue for almost 20 years – as well as the section from the viaduct to Kirschbergstraße. It affects the refurbishment of Käthe-Kollwitz-Straße from Westplatz to Klingerweg, which has been overdue for ten years and was originally planned for as early as 2025.

It affects Berliner Straße , but also the junction of Karl-Heine-Straße and Zschochersche Straße at the Felsenkeller, which is particularly dangerous for cyclists. It also affects Pfaffendorfer Straße, which was actually due to be rebuilt as early as 2025 . The project was first postponed; now it appears to be scrapped altogether. And Hallesche Straße, between Auenblickstraße and Stahmelner Allee, is also affected by this ‘replanning’.

And it won’t stop there. This is foreseeable if the current federal government fails to provide local authorities with significant financial relief over the next two years. Promises of future legislation are of no use here, as it is already clear today that Leipzig will exhaust its last remaining financial leeway with the 2027/2028 double budget. From 2029/2030 onwards, there will be no further leeway, even through new borrowing.