The new “Black Book” from the Taxpayers’ Association is out. Which embarrassing projects did we help finance this year?
In the new “Black Book” today (October 17th), the Taxpayers’ Association presented new cases in which, in its opinion, taxpayers’ money was wasted. There Germany has almost the highest tax rates in all of Europe, a lot comes together.
These include millions of dollars that were sunk into unusable swimming pools, a parking garage with no cars, or a commuter parking lot with no commuters. Admittedly, these projects have great potential for failure and we found it difficult to choose for a ranking. But here comes our top 5 of the most absurd tax wastes this year – without any claim to completeness.
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1st patronage in Bochum and Duisburg
“Beautiful snapshots with tax money” is what the Taxpayers Association calls exaggerated city marketing expenses for so-called selfie points. Following models in Amsterdam, Ascona and Nice, the tranquil cities of Bochum and Duisburg have also treated themselves to expensive lettering for posing. The taxpayers’ association finds this “inappropriate”.
![Selfie point Bochum and Duisburg](https://www.merkur.de/bilder/2023/10/17/92582900/32925916-selfiepoint-bochum-und-duisburg-PNBG.jpg)
More on the topic: 19 pictures that show the difference between Duisburg and Germany
2. Come on Wuppertal!
Under the heading “The budget is sinking,” the taxpayers’ association raises the question of why a city like Wuppertal, which is saddled with a mountain of debt worth 1.6 billion euros, affords expensive gold-colored benches in the city center. The club calculates that they cost a total of 400,000 euros. In doing so, Wuppertal “lost all measure”. In addition, citizens should complain about the “uncomfortable benches without backrests, which appear dilapidated, old, dirty and neglected”.
More on the subject: Absurd things rich people have done
3. As usual decadent in Hamburg
Hamburg, on the other hand, is not embarrassed about having completed a pointless bridge in the Barmbek-Süd district. Not only was this project delayed by a year, but it was also about twice as expensive, from the planned 1.85 million euros to 3.3 million euros.
![Maurien Bridge in Hamburg](https://www.merkur.de/bilder/2023/10/17/92582900/32925948-maurienbruecke-in-hamburg-QxBG.jpg)
The residents have filed a lawsuit against this project because there are already two fully functional bridges and there appears to be no need for a third. After all the stress, there was at least a housewarming party with mulled wine and pretzels, which only cost the taxpayer 950 euros. But that’s not enough.
In Hamburg you apparently still have four million euros left – for nothing. Various locations of the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office were to be combined in a new building at Ludwig-Erhard-Straße 11-17. According to the Authority for Justice and Consumer Protection, the rental agreement was signed in December 2019. The move of the locations was scheduled for September 2022, but nothing has happened so far.
Although the city will probably only have to pay rent once the building is occupied, the owner is already demanding financial compensation for the lost rental income since September 2022, namely 392,533.08 euros. That’s almost as much as the costs of regular collection, says the Taxpayers’ Association.
More on the topic: While Hamburg is so generous with unused living space, others would just like to cry – especially students
4. Where is the bus? In Wetzlar!
![White shuttle bus in Wetzlar](https://www.merkur.de/bilder/2023/10/17/92582900/32925933-weisser-shuttlebus-in-wetzlar-PdBG.jpg)
The central Hesse city of Wetzlar wants to attract locals and tourists to stroll in the old town, but there are hardly any parking spaces there. To remedy the situation, the city set up a free shuttle bus from April 1, 2023. This was supposed to bring passengers from several more distant parking lots to the old town twice an hour for three months.
However, it was not previously checked whether there was a need for such a purchase. The sum of 40,000 euros was initially spent on suspicion to organize the shuttle bus. However, he made his rounds empty through the city – for ten hours a day. “For 40,000 euros you could have driven almost 20,000 km in a Wetzlar taxi. “You could have traveled from Wetzlar to the twin city of Avignon and back ten times,” writes the Taxpayers’ Association.
5. Embarrassing Podcast
In the public relations department of the Ministry of Social Affairs of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, people probably thought that it was long past time for the state’s Minister of Social Affairs, Stefanie Drese, to get her own podcast. And so the podcast “Die Drese” was started in October 2022. In the pilot episode, the Minister of Social Affairs, who is announced as the “main character” of the podcast, explains: “So it should be about me being able to introduce myself as a minister […].”
In a relaxed atmosphere, the show deals with topics in the areas of social affairs, integration, family, health and sport, but personal matters are also discussed. So we find out what sport the minister does, whether she prefers to wear trousers or skirts – “Skirt, short!” – and that she prefers to attend a cabinet meeting rather than a state parliament meeting.
Conclusion: Just over 500 views for all episodes, including 247 for the first and 30 for the most recent. According to the ministry, the podcast now has around 400 subscribers and up to 250 hits per episode. Even if the production costs for the podcast itself are estimated at “0”, tax money flows here: the advertising budget for advertisements in magazines, large digital spaces and postcards to make the podcast known has so far been 8,890 euros.
More about podcasts: Kurt Krömer says that he “always has murder and manslaughter.”
(With material from dpa)
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