BIW on finance and taxes

The BIW wants to comply with the debt brake without exceptions and rejects the new borrowing planned by the state government. Unexpected tax windfalls should go entirely toward debt reduction to lower interest costs.

Bremen has very high debt. The BIW wants no new debt. The debt brake should apply strictly. This is a rule that limits new loans. Extra tax money should pay off old debt.

The platform points to more than 23 billion euros in debt at the end of 2022, over 33,000 euros per resident. The BIW rejects the government's plan to borrow another three billion euros by 2027 for the climate crisis and the effects of the war. Instead it relies on frugal spending and higher tax revenue through business promotion, new jobs, and more residents. Unplanned extra revenue, for example in a strong economy, is to be used only for repayment.

The BIW wants public money used more efficiently and waste reduced. To that end, the state audit office and local audit offices should get more powers and be involved in planning large projects from the start.

The BIW wants Bremen to be careful with tax money. Auditors should check big projects early. Offices should buy things together to get discounts. Citizens and staff should send in ideas for saving money. Good ideas get a reward.

Large business-promotion spending is to undergo a cost-benefit review with the state audit office beforehand; the platform rejects prestige projects. Government purchasing should be pooled, including in cooperation with Lower Saxony, and political side goals should play no role in awarding contracts. The plan includes incentives for thrifty staff, zero-base budgeting, and suggestion programs with rewards for both administration employees and residents. It also calls for seeking private donations and sponsorship, tougher action against tax and benefit fraud, and more volunteering so the state can withdraw from some tasks.

The BIW wants a coordinated program across all government departments to get more people to move to Bremen. More residents are meant to raise purchasing power and the state's tax revenue.

The BIW wants more people to live in Bremen. There should be a program for this. It is aimed mostly at commuters from Lower Saxony. More residents mean more tax money for the state.

The plan is to cover urban development, housing, work, leisure, and infrastructure together. The main target group is the nearly 125,000 people who live in Lower Saxony and work in Bremen or Bremerhaven. The BIW sees this as a way to increase revenue for the state and its cities.

The BIW wants Bremen to push in the Bundesrat for a different way of distributing commuters' wage and income tax. It also wants the local business tax replaced by a larger municipal share of other taxes.

Many people work in Bremen but live in Lower Saxony. Their wage tax goes to the place where they live. The BIW wants Bremen to get part of it. The local business tax should go away. Cities should get more from other taxes instead.

Wage tax is currently distributed solely by place of residence, which the platform says puts Bremen at a structural disadvantage. Where home and workplace are in different states, the revenue should be split half and half. The Gewerbesteuer (local business tax) is to give way to a higher municipal share of wage, income, and sales tax. This is meant to make the revenue of Bremen's cities less dependent on the business cycle.

The BIW wants to review the state's more than 200 shareholdings for usefulness and profitability and sell them where it makes sense. Proceeds should pay down debt and fund investment; public housing is excluded from any sale.

The state of Bremen owns shares in more than 200 companies. The BIW wants to check if this is worth it. The state should sell some of these shares. The money should pay off debt and fund investments. Homes owned by the public housing companies should not be sold.

Holdings are to be sold fully or in part when market conditions are favorable. The revenue is earmarked for old debt and for investments in Bremen as a business location. Privatization must not lower the quality of services for citizens, especially in basic public services. Homes owned by Gewoba, Brebau, and Stäwog should not go to private investors because the BIW fears disadvantages for tenants.