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Hanover (dpa / lni) - Every second municipality in Lower Saxony increased taxes and fees last year or is planning to do so this year.
Around every ninth municipality has also reduced services such as the operation of swimming pools or street lighting.
This is the result of a study by the consulting firm EY, for which 46 of the 92 cities and municipalities in Lower Saxony with more than 20,000 inhabitants were surveyed.
In a country comparison, Lower Saxony is in the middle with these rates.
According to the study, garbage disposal, street cleaning, water supply and parking fees are becoming more expensive.
The measures are against the background of the Corona crisis, which is also affecting the municipal budgets.
According to the EY, about every second municipality in Lower Saxony expects a budget deficit (46 percent) in 2020, and only one in nine (11 percent) expects a surplus.
In 2019, the signs were still the opposite: at that time, 61 percent of the municipalities recorded a plus and 11 percent a minus.
According to the study, only billions in subsidies from the federal and state governments have prevented even bigger holes in the coffers.
For example, trade tax income across Germany fell by an average of 15 percent - the total income of the municipalities, however, only fell by a good 4 percent.
For 2021, however, the majority of German cities and municipalities continue to expect income below the pre-crisis level.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210121-99-113290 / 2