Lord Mayor Frank Klingebiel: "This draft law was preceded by intensive and tough negotiations between the working group of Lower Saxony's municipal umbrella organizations and the Lower Saxony state government. On March 14, 2025, under the leadership of former Lower Saxony Minister President Stephan Weil and with the participation of Lower Saxony Interior Minister Daniela Behrens and Lower Saxony Finance Minister Gerald Heere, we cut the "knot". An amount of 600 million euros from the expected annual surplus of the 2024 state budget is to be made available by the state of Lower Saxony to support municipal investment activities in 2025 and 2026. This is an initial signal from the state government of Lower Saxony to support local authorities, whose municipal budgets are in an unprecedented "imbalance" due to years of underfunded state tasks. In the meantime, the City of Salzgitter has received a corresponding funding decision from the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior and Sport - subject to the approval of the state parliament."

Klingebiel adds: "Today is a good day for Salzgitter and all municipalities in Lower Saxony. Subject to the state parliament's approval of the "Lower Saxony Municipal Funding Act" (NKomFÖG), our city will receive around EUR 5.234 million this year and a further EUR 2.617 million next year to finance important investment measures. And the most important thing: although the name of the draft law is unwieldy and sounds bureaucratic, the call-off and use of the funds should not be! In March 2025, the working group of municipal umbrella organizations in Lower Saxony, including the Lower Saxony Association of Cities and Towns (NST), of which I am Vice President, and the Lower Saxony state government signed the "Pact for Municipal Investments", which is intended to provide noticeable relief for us as municipalities."

The central component of the pact is the so-called municipal investment program amounting to 600 million euros, which the Lower Saxony state government intends to make available to municipalities from 2025. And, mind you, largely without conditions and with greatly simplified verification vis-à-vis the state of Lower Saxony.

"This was also a key demand made by the working group of Lower Saxony's municipal umbrella organizations to the Lower Saxony state government, because we as municipalities are suffering from the "potty economy" and the associated small-scale regulation of the state and federal government. Together with my management team, I will examine how we can best use the expected money and submit a corresponding resolution proposal to the council for a decision once the law has been passed. In principle, the draft law allows these state funds to be used to finance new investments or investments that have already been budgeted for in order to relieve the pressure on our municipal budget," concluded Klingebiel.