“Good, but” were the words that the Director of the Court of Auditors, Philipp Häfner, probably used most on Monday when presenting the report on Hamburg’s budget situation. In its “advisory statement”, the city’s audit office attested that it had come through the corona pandemic comparatively well. Tax revenue has never fallen below the long-term trend – and of the 3.8 billion euros in Corona funds for 2020 to 2022, only around half has been used so far. But now it is important to learn from experience and avoid mistakes made for the future.
“The coming months won’t get any easier,” warned the President of the Audit Office, Stefan Schulz, probably referring above all to the challenges that the increases in energy costs could mean for the city’s budget. Other risk factors for the city could be rising inflation, rising interest rates and a revival of the corona pandemic in autumn.
For this reason, the Court of Auditors is demanding that the city, for example, secure the work of city officials and employees in the home office, develop concepts for economic stabilization that can be implemented in the short term – and “not exhaust budget reserves to the last”.
Because the budget of the city is currently stable. However, effects that the Senate cannot rely on in the future would also contribute to this. The Court of Auditors includes the dividend payout at Hapag Lloyd, which will bring in 85 million euros last year and probably more than 800 million euros this year.
But the profits of the Hamburger Energiewerke, which benefited from the rising energy prices, could already look different in the coming year – quite apart from high one-off income, such as from the sale of old ship inventories of the former HSH Nordbank. It is all the more important that the red-green Senate now do its homework for future crises.
The Court of Auditors had intentionally set the date for the presentation of the “advisory statement” at the beginning of this week. On Wednesday, the Senate will present the draft budget for the next two years to Parliament for consultation. According to Schulz, the report by the Court of Auditors could provide important information for the Senate, the parliamentarians and the interested public.
The draft budget solves a number of pent-up problems, said Court of Auditors Director Häfner. But the Court of Auditors also sees reason for criticism in several places. For example, the rents for the schools are still “implausibly low”. A personnel strategy is also missing. “Hamburg is allowed to increase staff,” Häfner made clear. More residents would mean more jobs. But the build-up is “very clear” and will eventually weigh on the budget if no strategy is developed to limit growth.
Petra Ackmann, State Chairwoman of the Taxpayers’ Association in Hamburg, sees the report by the Court of Auditors as confirming her association’s criticism. Months ago she criticized the lack of a personnel strategy. Unlike the Court of Auditors, she even believes that, with the exception of a few areas, no additional recruitment would be necessary. “In the age of digitalization, it should be possible to get by at least with the current personnel key.”
She appealed to the parliamentarians, who will be discussing the budget from Wednesday, to “use taxpayers’ money sparingly”.
