The supplement, which was adopted by the Salzgitter City Council in October 2025, had become necessary due to unforeseeable additional expenses and revenue shortfalls. The original 2025/2026 double budget was planned strictly in line with the annual results of previous years. Due to the virtually non-existent leeway in the municipal budget, it was no longer possible for the administration to compensate for the unforeseeable shortfalls in income and increases in expenses. The Lord Mayor and his administration consequently drew up a supplementary budget for 2025/2026 in accordance with budgetary regulations and submitted it to the Council for approval in October 2025. "The financial situation of the municipalities is alarming, which is why I have long been calling for a reorganization of the financial relationships between the federal government, the state and the municipalities in my role as Vice President of the Lower Saxony Association of Cities and Towns. If the local authorities are responsible for around 25% of tasks, but only receive 14% of general state tax revenue, this cannot work in the long term. This permanent structural underfunding of the municipalities must finally come to an end. Irrespective of this, we in Salzgitter plan responsibly and closely in line with the previous year's income and expenditure and ensure the provision of services of general interest and the safeguarding of social peace in our city - also through further approved borrowing, as the additional debt is essentially incurred through the performance of underfunded government tasks," says Lord Mayor Frank Klingebiel.

The supplementary budget for 2025/2026 was approved without restriction by the Ministry of the Interior despite the sharp increase in the deficit and the resulting increase in borrowing requirements. It will now be published in the Amtsblatt and will then be available for inspection for one week. It will then become legally binding. "I am grateful and feel vindicated in my budget planning, as the municipal supervisory authority of the MI has followed this course and granted approval without restrictions or conditions. This shows me that the fundamental course of planning is the right one," concluded Klingebiel.