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A railway barrier nowhere, a dark luxury water with urban funding, but also the help of Corona and the exit of coal: the taxpayers association denounces the waste in its new black book.
The Taxpayers Association has published its annual black book with more than 100 examples of tax waste. The association’s president, Reiner Holznagel, criticizes federal, state and local authorities in numerous cases for the careless handling of citizens’ money.
Examples include a historic bridge that is no longer used at all, a luxury hotel in Bonn’s Petersberg, which is owned by the federal government and is experiencing heavy losses, and a supposedly energy-self-sufficient nightclub run by the federal government, which produces enough electricity to operate only through dance moves. It should be, but that didn’t work.
“Luxury water” with municipal financing
Another example is the supposed luxury water from a spring at a depth of 181 meters, in the facilities of the Parchim municipal treatment plant, of all places.
The small town of Mecklenburg was involved in a company that wanted to sell the water. A liter cost about 20 euros and was only delivered to restaurants. The company initially made a loss and was later dissolved in the summer of 2020.
Also in the review: in Gelenau in Saxony, the barrier of a small level crossing for cyclists and pedestrians has been raised and lowered fully automatically since 2010, in the middle of the landscape. Because the associated bike and trail are still missing.
According to the Taxpayers Association, four-digit operating and maintenance costs are incurred per year. The bike lane must be built quickly, for road safety and “so that the barrier system does not degenerate into a permanent investment ruin,” the association demands.
Berlin in criticism for uncritical aid from the crown
The taxpayers’ association also criticized aid from the crown: in Berlin, the lack of controls and the hasty granting of emergency aid from the crown would have called scammers to the scene. The Senate Administration and the responsible Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) have always rejected similar accusations. Meanwhile, more than 16,300 applicants have repaid grants of 109 million euros, the IBB announced in July.
The 100 cases are just a selection and the tip of the iceberg, Holznagel said. In fact, no one can tell how much tax money is being wasted.
He also criticized the fact that the state is becoming more and more economically active, sometimes with high risks. To do this, better rules are needed, including participation in companies in times of crisis.
The association also criticized the elimination of coal, which it considered too expensive. A CO2 price would have made coal-fired power generation economically unprofitable in the medium term, Holznagel said.
However, the exit decided by the state with compensation payments for energy companies would unnecessarily ask taxpayers to pay.
