Budget 2025ff: Higher property tax until 2027 averted thanks to strict austerity measures

Higher revenues are also planned - but not from property tax for the time being. Due to the nationwide property tax reform, the city will have to adopt a new assessment rate of 1,230 points (previously 895 points) from this year. "However, this means that we as a city will not take in any more than before - around 46 million euros, the same as in 2024 before the reform," emphasizes Wilhelm. "The increase is necessary to compensate for the lower tax assessment amounts in many cases, which have resulted from the new Hesse-wide calculation. Despite the necessary increase in the assessment rate, this new calculation means that property tax will be cheaper for 61% of Offenbach property owners and therefore also for their tenants. This is a real financial relief for many people. However, for the other 39 percent of those affected, it will unfortunately be considerably more expensive than before. We also took this into account when it came to preventing an additional increase in property tax for as long as possible."

Instead, the plan provides for two completely new sources of revenue with the introduction of an overnight tax for hotel guests and property tax C for undeveloped land. However, property tax will not be able to remain stable in the long term either: "We can currently manage without a property tax increase. But because the coffers are empty, property tax B will have to rise from 2027 onwards, as things stand. In our planning, we are currently assuming 300 points. Whether it has to be this high in the end depends largely on what opportunities we can find to save money by then and how the economic and financial situation develops."

In order to stabilize the city's finances until 2028 and to compensate for the decision not to increase property tax for the next two years, the municipal council's package of measures includes 1. cuts, 2. postponements of investments, 3. savings and 4. higher revenues. "We made these decisions with a heavy heart, but in the spirit of responsible handling of people's tax money," explained the four full-time members of the municipal council - Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke, Mayor Sabine Groß, City Treasurer Martin Wilhelm and City Councillor Paul-Gerhard Weiß. "We stand together behind these decisions in order to stabilize the municipal budget for the coming years."

1. savings:

• In 2024, an extensive job freeze was decided in the city administration until 2027. As a result, only 14 of the 160 new positions announced will be created in 2025.
• A budget freeze totaling 25 percent will be imposed on all budgets. A portion, 19 percent, can be lifted in justified exceptional cases. The remaining 6 percent is subject to a special feature: this is where the new instrument of global underspending introduced by the state government on Offenbach's initiative comes into play. This means that six percent of the funds are blocked across the board for all budget items and can only be released after being covered by other items. In this way, 13.8 million euros are to be saved in 2025 and a total of 56 million euros by 2028.

In addition to these across-the-board cuts to all budgets, the city will save an additional 8.5 million euros in current expenditure in 2025:

• Funding for the renovation of roads, pavements and cycle paths will be halved to 1.25 million euros.
• Expenditure on the renovation of buildings, maintenance and renovation of sports facilities, climate protection measures, the promotion of cycling, the phosphate plant in the Schultheis pond, personnel and city marketing, the replacement of street trees, the fire department's vehicle fleet, postal charges and business development will be reduced.
• The municipal share of the Leather Museum's renovation costs will be capped, the Mitte station in the former Kaufhof building will be given more rentable space and the 10% increase in course fees for the music school, which was announced in December and has already been implemented, has been taken into account in order to at least partially refinance the city's increased subsidies as a result of the Herrenberg ruling.

The sum of these measures is expected to reduce expenditure by around 55 million eurosby 2028. The municipal utilities will also help to ease the burden on the budget by assuming a higher loss of 5 million euros for the public transport deficit.

2. postponement of investments:

• Completely new investments for sport and the upgrading of the Eichwaldweg and Rosenhöhe sports facilities will be postponed by two years.
• Further new projects for the city center will be postponed by at least two years.
• No public toilets will be renovated for at least a year.
• No opening of the park at the tip of the harbor island for the time being
• New funds that would be required to renovate the town hall will not be made available for at least four or five years.
• Funds for the construction of the connecting road to the B448 will also not be included in the budget until 2029.

3. deletions:

• The originally planned new 24-hour dirt road guarantee,
• Celebrations for the 1050th anniversary of the city of Offenbach in 2027,
• Grants for the Café International,
• public relations measures, including election advertising,
• the already completed abandonment of the ice rink in the city center
• the water fountains in the city center in summer from 2027.

4. higher revenue:

With the help of the city's reserves and the measures mentioned above (saving, postponing and cutting), the original deficit of 250 million euros could be reduced to 25 million euros. This remaining deficit must be closed by 2028 through higher revenues. To this end, the city council is proposing two completely new sources of revenue to the city councillors:

• The introduction of an overnight tax could generate around 1.3 million euros annually from 2026. In return, 200,000 euros will be invested in increased tourism marketing to make Offenbach a more attractive destination for business and leisure travelers.
• Property tax C for unused residential and commercial properties will also be introduced in 2026. The potential here is estimated at around 250,000 euros per year.
• The increase in property tax from 2027 would result in an additional 20 million euros for 2027 and 2028.

"We will continue to keep the pressure on savings high and do everything we can to avert this step if possible. However, we are dependent on many external factors. We will therefore continue to insist that the federal and state governments finally fulfill their responsibility for the people who live in poorer cities and municipalities. The local authorities must receive significantly more money for the costs incurred as a result of the decisions taken in Berlin and Wiesbaden," emphasize the full-time members of the municipal council.

Lord Mayor Schwenke emphasizes: "We are concerned about the huge burden on people as a result of inflation and high rents. The people of Offenbach have already had to do without some things for a very long time that are normal in other cities, symbolized by the lack of an indoor swimming pool. The lack of opportunities for the city to create affordable housing is particularly problematic. It is therefore a very difficult balancing act between necessary budgetary discipline and the city's ability to act on behalf of its citizens. For us, for example, it was completely out of the question to make cuts in education or children's services and explicitly not in areas where voluntary work would be affected. We have a responsibility to keep our city reliably on course, even in bad times."

Schwenke adds: "This reliable course also includes continuing our consistent economic and settlement policy. We will not succeed in becoming a rich city, nor can we decouple ourselves from the rest of the world. But we will broaden the Offenbach economy and thus make it more crisis-proof. And we will do everything we can to create more jobs in Offenbach. We are working closely together in the municipal council, and people can rely on that."

Mayor Groß also makes it clear that the city will continue to fulfill its most important tasks in the coming years despite all the savings: "The city will maintain its services in the social sector and in care and support for families and single parents and even expand childcare. We have budgeted funds for the implementation of the action plan against child poverty and we are also staying on course with other important infrastructure and vital tasks: there will be no cutbacks in flood protection, the heat planning for the implementation of the energy transition will be continued and the expanded bus service will be maintained as a minimum service."

Councillor Weiß emphasizes: "Even in the current situation, we are still investing a very high amount of almost 96 million euros in the renovation, modernization and expansion of our schools and daycare centres in 2025 - this is an investment in the future of our children. As is the start of construction of the new secondary school, which will begin this year. Securing these important projects over the next few years is a clear objective that we all unanimously support in the full-time municipal council."

City Treasurer Wilhelm adds: "Another key challenge for the future of Offenbach is and remains the development of the city center. We will continue with the projects already started as part of the city center future concept in order to continue to provide important impetus. One major building block will be the relocation of the city library to Station Mitte. A lively center for all Offenbach residents is to be created in the heart of the city center. There is no money for major renovation work, but we will continue to repair roads and sidewalks. A new women's shelter is also being planned to cover the increased space requirements and provide barrier-free access."