"Everyone knows what needs to be done. If integration is to succeed, we cannot waste any more time discussing the right concepts or funding issues. Cities and municipalities also have very limited financial resources. They cannot once again - as with the initial reception - replace the shortfall of the federal and state governments," said NST President Frank Klingebiel, Mayor of the city of Salzgitter.

The federal and state governments are currently discussing a joint concept for refugee integration. However, a meeting between Chancellor Angela Merkel and the state premiers on Friday failed to produce any results. The dispute over the distribution of costs is to be resolved by the end of May.

This is not acceptable to the NST. "By the end of July, over 100,000 refugees will have arrived in the cities and municipalities. We have to bear the costs of accommodation and food, create living space, build or expand daycare centers and schools and offer language courses and job opportunities. And we have to do it now," says Lüneburg's Lord Mayor Ulrich Mädge, Vice President of the NST.

This is already resulting in a massive underfunding of the municipalities. In the planned compensation of refugee costs by the state, the 2016 budget provides for compensation payments of almost 270 million euros. This contrasts with municipal expenditure for asylum seekers of at least 933 million euros.

"A difference of over 663 million euros in 2016 alone is unacceptable. If the federal and state governments are unable to agree on appropriate co-financing for municipal tasks and investments in the near future, the state will have to provide bridge financing," said Mädge.