SPD on finance and taxes

The SPD wants to scrap the road improvement charges that property owners along a street pay under the municipal charges act. Municipalities would be compensated for the lost revenue. The program calls the charges unfair and bureaucratic and points to the burden on young families and retirees.

When a street is rebuilt, residents often have to pay a lot of money. The SPD wants to end these charges. Cities and towns would get the missing money from the state. The SPD says the charges hit young families and retirees hardest.

According to the program, the charges often run to five figures. Retirees in particular are said to end up in situations that threaten their livelihood because they can hardly get loans. The abolition would apply to adjacent property owners, and the shortfall for municipalities would be made up.

The SPD wants to fully replace municipalities' pandemic-related losses in local business tax for 2021 and 2022. The money would not have to be repaid, so that no new legacy debt builds up.

Because of COVID, towns and cities took in less tax. The SPD wants to replace this loss in full for 2021 and 2022. Municipalities do not have to pay the money back. This way they should not need new debt.

Compensation for lost local business tax would be 100 percent and, if possible, also apply in 2023. The SPD rejects the approach of the CDU-FDP state government of treating the aid as a loan. There would be no clawback of the compensation payments, neither for 2021 and 2022 nor later. Municipalities would also be shielded from pandemic-related burdens from 2023 to 2025.

The SPD wants to work out a solution for municipalities' legacy debt together with the federal government. If that fails, the state would act alone. Municipalities would also get money to invest in future-oriented projects.

Many cities in NRW have old debts. The SPD wants to solve this together with the federal government. If that does not work, the state should do it alone. Cities should again have money for new projects.

The debt solution is meant to give all regions of the state comparable prospects for development again. As a fallback, the platform names a state-only arrangement. The state would also provide enough funding for municipalities to make targeted investments, for example in attractive city centers.

The SPD wants to give municipalities a permanently larger share of state tax revenue by raising the Verbundsatz (revenue-sharing rate) to 24 and later 25 percent. Grant programs would be simplified, and the state would pay for tasks it hands to municipalities.

Towns and cities should get more money from the state for good. For this, the Verbundsatz goes up. That is the share of state taxes that municipalities receive. It should first rise to 24 percent, later to 25. Grant programs should become simpler.

The SPD ties the increase to 25 percent to a review of grant programs; money freed up there would help pay for it. Municipal fiscal equalization would be strengthened to offset differences in economic strength; the SPD rejects shifting more funds to allocations unrelated to fiscal capacity. Municipalities would get relief on the costs of child and youth welfare and childcare, on the principle that whoever orders pays. Grant programs and procurement law would be made less bureaucratic, while procurement law would still secure collectively agreed wages, a ban on child labor, sustainability and climate protection. The SPD also wants to promote cooperation between municipalities.

The SPD wants to launch a state investment program to reduce the investment backlog in North Rhine-Westphalia. The money is to go mainly to schools, climate action, health care, housing and digitalization. The platform rejects budget consolidation at any cost.

NRW lacks a lot of money for schools, roads and other important things. So the SPD wants to start a big investment program. The money should go to schools, climate protection, health, housing and digital services. The SPD does not want to cut too much in the crisis.

The platform puts the investment gap in North Rhine-Westphalia at no less than 27 billion euros and cites economic research institutes. The school program "Gute Schule 2020" is to be relaunched. To pay for this, the SPD also wants to use alternative financing: the state development bank NRW.Bank would provide the funds and the state budget would repay them afterward. This model is meant to apply to future investments as well; Berlin and Hamburg are named as examples.

The SPD wants to use money from the state's COVID rescue fund for a program to restart the economy and social life after the pandemic. It wants to examine whether the rescue fund can be used beyond 2022. At the same time, it plans a schedule for repaying the state's COVID debt.

The COVID crisis caused many problems. The state has a special pot of money for this, the rescue fund. The SPD wants to use it to pay for a restart program. It may want to use the fund after 2022 too. It also wants a plan for paying back the debt.

The program is meant to cushion the effects of the pandemic. The platform lists measures against social division, catching up on learning gaps and stronger preventive health care. It also includes support for struggling sectors such as restaurants, fairground operators and event organizers, plus more money for municipalities. On using the rescue fund for longer, the SPD points to other states as examples. It wants to present a repayment plan for the state's COVID debt.

The SPD wants to tackle tax evasion, tax avoidance and tax fraud through legislation and more staff, including more tax auditors. Oversight against money laundering is also to get considerably more staff and funding. It wants to consider creating a dedicated state agency against money laundering.

Some people and companies do not pay their taxes properly. The SPD wants to fight this harder. It wants to hire more tax auditors. It also wants to do more against money laundering. Money laundering means hiding that money comes from crime.

The platform says each tax auditor brings in more than one million euros in extra revenue on average, so staffing is to be increased further. Tax authorities should make use of digital tools. The SPD wants to actively support the legal reckoning with the Cum-Ex share deals. On money laundering, the states are responsible for supervising non-financial businesses, real estate agents, notaries and dealers; legal loopholes are to be closed here. A state agency that would bundle the currently scattered responsibilities is to be examined.

The SPD demands that the federal government reimburse states and municipalities for revenue losses caused by federal tax decisions. Temporary federal aid, for example for integration and education, should become permanent. According to the platform, the aim is a public sector that is able to act.

Sometimes the federal government makes rules that leave the state with less tax money. The SPD wants the federal government to replace that money. The federal government also gives money for schools and integration, but only for a limited time. The SPD wants this money to be paid permanently.

As an example of costly federal decisions, the platform cites so-called super depreciation, meaning especially fast tax write-offs for companies. It says the state budget cannot absorb such shortfalls. The SPD expects additional fiscal room only from higher tax revenue driven by economic momentum, which it wants to encourage through public investment. The state should raise enough money for schools, roads, bridges and a modern administration.