Markus Höner as a guest at Beckum town hall

During his meeting with Mayor Michael Gerdhenrich in the presence of Christian Weber, Chairman of the local party, Kathrin Averdung, Deputy Chairwoman of the CDU parliamentary group and City Treasurer Thomas Wulf, the focus was on municipal finances.

"Like most other NRW municipalities, we are underfunded. Here in Beckum, we cannot influence many of the causes such as inflation, huge increases in energy prices or high wage settlements, but we have to deal with them together. Ultimately, however, it is the task of the state to ensure that local authorities are adequately funded," emphasised Mayor Michael Gerdhenrich in the subsequent press conference.

The state politician explained that 37 per cent of the entire state budget already goes to the municipalities and, like the head of administration, referred to the generally tense economic situation.

Gerdhenrich would like to see simplified procedures and reliable framework conditions. "Dispensing with complicated and bureaucratic funding programmes in favour of investment lump sums would help us municipalities immediately, without additional money having to flow into the system," says the mayor, formulating a key expectation of the state. Clear framework conditions and reliable financial support are also needed for refugee aid, including with regard to maintenance costs. In this context, Höner emphasised that around 100,000 children in daycare centres and schools within a short space of time represented a particular challenge, but one for which every euro was well invested. The Child Education Act, KIBIZ for short, is currently being evaluated. The higher wage settlements are also having an impact here. Beckum's mayor expressly welcomes the fact that no savings are to be made here.

The pending property tax reform was also discussed. From the municipalities' point of view, a distortion between the burden on commercial and residential properties has crystallised. Commercial properties tend to be taxed less, while residential properties tend to be taxed more, explained city treasurer Wulf. The differentiated assessment rate law for local authorities proposed by the state was rejected: "This is highly problematic in legal terms and technically impossible to implement now; there is a risk that property tax could be cancelled completely. This must be prevented," was his judgement. "I am very happy to take this back to Düsseldorf," explained Markus Höner from Vellern.

"Issues like this show particularly clearly how important regular dialogue with the municipalities is," Höner summed up, earning encouragement from everyone involved. "It only works with constructive cooperation," concluded Mayor Gerdhenrich.