Taxpayers' Association denounces: Tax money is wasted here in Bavaria

Building cost explosions, expensive relocations of the authorities and a strange connecting tunnel: In its yearbook, the taxpayers 'association denounces cases of dubious handling of taxpayers' money.

Munich

- A tunnel is actually supposed to connect, but in Erding an underground passage divides the city's citizens.

While the majority in the city council and Lord Mayor Max Gotz (CSU) used the 28 meter long

between the old town hall and the new administration building in the city center, many citizens just shake their heads at the 1.1 million euro project.

This is mainly due to the reason for the construction: The tunnel is necessary solely under data protection law, so that when walking across the street wind and weather do not contaminate or blow away sensitive data such as construction plans or family records, it was once said by the town hall lawyer.

It was also argued that 300 errands between the buildings were necessary every day.

Lord Mayor Gotz also stated to the Bund der Steuerpayers (BdS) that he wanted to prevent the administrations from "drifting apart" in the long term.

For Maria Ritch, Vice President of the BdS in Bavaria, this is a clear case of tax wastage.

She says: "A simple zebra crossing would have done it too."

Every year the taxpayers' association denounces “public waste” in its black book in the federal, state and local governments.

Often it is about costs that got out of hand, money for controversial projects or complete bad planning.

In addition to the Erdinger Tunnel, which the BdS lists under the category "to smile at", seven other cases from Bavaria have landed in the Black Book.

Two construction projects in Munich have come under fire

In most cases it is about skyrocketing construction costs.

For example at the

, the renovation of which will almost double the costs.

Estimated at 186 million euros in 2016, the BdS expects total costs of around 322 million euros by the planned completion in six years.

"Every private property developer would go bankrupt if he planned like this," criticizes Ritch.

Refurbishment and conversion costs have gotten out of hand not only in Augsburg.

It looks very similar in Munich.

For example at the

, where renovation costs have soared from original 400 million euros to 745 million.

According to the taxpayers' association, the building authorities initially estimated the

renovation of the

to be 80 million - meanwhile 231 million euros have been estimated.

Also because of cost explosions during construction, the Schwarzbuch runs the

(an increase from 15.3 to 20 million euros) and the

in the Upper Palatinate.

A section there is being converted into a university for the public service - the police department has been relocated there.

But because various contaminated sites came to light during the construction work, the construction costs have almost doubled.

Relocation of authorities: "The cost-benefit ratio is wrong"

In addition to these construction projects, the taxpayers' association is also

not satisfied

with the

of a total of 3000 jobs to structurally weak rural regions.

The plan has "good approaches", said Ritch, but with estimated costs in the three-digit million range for the various relocations from the administrative court to the building ministry, the cost-benefit ratio is not right.

And finally, the BdS criticizes a planned

for Bavarian farmers.

Agriculture Minister Michaela Kaniber (CSU) announced the five million euro image campaign last autumn as a “confidence-building measure” after the rejection of the species protection referendum.

Among other things, a show farm is planned in Munich, but the corona pandemic sparked in between.

The Taxpayers' Association judges: Even after the pandemic, the question arises whether an image campaign is worth so much money to Bavarian taxpayers.