Digital deficits, questionable bridges, extremely expensive toilets - the taxpayers' association is once again spearing a waste of tax money.

"A consistent digital modernization of public administration could save citizens, companies and the administration themselves a lot of time and thus several billion euros per year", said its President Reiner Holznagel when he presented the current version of the "Black Book" to the service, in the Hundred Cases of careless handling of tax money can be found.

The focus this year is on how governments and authorities deal with modern data processing.

Manfred Schäfers

Business correspondent in Berlin.

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According to the taxpayers' association, the digital backlog in the healthcare system makes fighting the pandemic unnecessarily expensive. The digital corona vaccination card was only introduced in mid-June 2021. Since the vaccination campaign had already been running for more than six months, millions of vaccinations had to be electronically certified retrospectively. In the beginning, doctors and pharmacists received up to 18 euros per certificate. The remuneration was later reduced to up to 6 euros.

The taxpayers' interest group also criticizes the “IT chaos” at the federal level.

Since 2015, the government has been working on making its authorities up-to-date, safe and efficient.

Because the progress of the project fell far short of expectations, she completely restructured the organization at the beginning of 2020.

“The costs of the federal IT consolidation were initially estimated at a 'mid three-digit million amount'.

In the meantime, however, the federal government assumes that the project will cost 3.4 billion euros, ”complains the taxpayers' association.

Fiberglass for the gazebo

According to his findings, the state-subsidized broadband expansion does not always work as it should. For example, in the Brandenburg town of Borkheide, uninhabited gazebos were partially supplied with fiber optic connections worth around 16,000 euros. Traders - like the local hotel - were left out. In the Saxon district of Bautzen, outdated map material led to broadband being relocated in an area with garden and weekend houses; Residential properties have been forgotten in the same place.

As always, you will find things to be amazed, smile and angry in the Black Book.

From Eslohe in the Hochsauerlandkreis, a new pedestrian bridge is being written about, which is right next to an existing one.

The saving of a few meters and a few seconds for pedestrians is said to have cost around 95,000 euros.

In Lübeck, the expansion of the football stadium with the turf heating necessary for the third division was funded with 1.5 million euros in tax money.

The work would have started exactly one day after the last home game - the taxpayers' association followed suit with the words: "Too bad that the club was already relegated at this point."

A lot of money for a public toilet

In Freiburg, he is bothered by cameras that were bought for half a million euros and hung up to ensure more security. They could be turned on with the push of a button, but they would not have recorded a single image yet. "In Freiburg, 500,000 euros are literally in the air at the expense of taxpayers," criticized the taxpayer lobby. At the Großer Bullensee near the district town of Rotenburg (Wümme) in Lower Saxony, she criticizes a public toilet by the lake - not the decision in and of itself to bring the system up to date, but the costs: “335,000 euros are a waste of time for many taxpayers. "

Mixed financing, in which the federal, state and local authorities share tasks and costs, sometimes creates additional expenses.

One example can be found on the island of Fehmarn.

An observation tower was built there on a harbor promenade for around 1 million euros.

As the report says, it wasn't really necessary.

"But thanks to this unique selling proposition, the redesign of the promenade was funded by the state to 70 percent."

Warning against weakening the debt rule

The following case from Lower Saxony is also annoying for Holznagel: two districts took part in a nationwide model test for marked bicycle protection strips on roads outside of built-up areas. According to him, the markings cost around 260,000 euros. The experiences on site were consistently positive. The federal government and the state saw it differently and decreed that the test tracks should be removed - which was done under protest from the two districts. "Costs for the dismantling: 763,000 euros. Bicycle lane on the street: 0 ”, he judged.

The taxpayer president warned the negotiators of the SPD, Greens and FDP.

You should not soften, talk or even abolish the debt rule.

The latest climate section of the Federal Constitutional Court emphasized the responsibility of politics for a fair burden sharing between the age groups.

The debt brake is a protection against over-indebtedness for future generations.