Cologne Lifts Budget Freeze - Cologne Imposes Spending Freeze Amid €582M Budget Crisis
Cologne has announced a spending freeze due to a severe budget crisis. The city's new mayor, Torsten Burmester, described the situation as 'dramatic'. The deficit for 2025 has soared to around €582 million, up from the earlier projection of €399.5 million. The primary causes are escalating costs in social welfare and youth services, along with stagnant business tax revenue.
The spending freeze, effective immediately, will last until the end of 2025. It allows only mandatory or essential expenditures. The Green Party, the largest faction on the city council, backs this decision. The deficit increase of about €182.5 million is mainly due to sharply rising expenses in social and youth services and stagnant trade tax revenues. These factors have led to the revised deficit forecast of around €582 million.
Cologne's budget crisis is severe, with the deficit expected to reach around €582 million by 2025. The city has imposed a spending freeze until the end of 2025 to manage this crisis. The Green Party supports this measure, which allows only essential expenditures.
