In mid-May 2021 it was clear that there would be a coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP in Offenbach after the local elections in March.

However, it was already clear in June that traffic lights would have to make considerable savings in local public transport in view of the looming budgetary risks.

It is precisely this need to save that now overshadows the balance of the traffic light after the first year of cooperation, which the party and parliamentary group leaders drew on Wednesday.

Shortly before, the Caritas association in Offenbach had questioned investments of 50 million euros in the expansion of the Caritas center for the elderly and the creation of 80 new jobs.

With the cuts in local transport, the center with 167 residents and more than 150 jobs will be largely decoupled from the bus network, according to Caritas.

Jochen Remert

Airport editor and correspondent Rhein-Main-Süd.

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Christian Grünewald, chairman of the sub-district of the SPD, said the need to save 550,000 kilometers a year would inevitably lead to hardship.

In the case of the Caritas center, however, work is being done to find a solution that is acceptable to everyone.

On May 19, the city ordinance is to decide on the savings plans that have already been approved by the magistrate.

The compulsion to cut public transport again instead of expanding it further makes it clear that the traffic light coalition, like the previous coalition that still formed the CDU together with the Greens, the FDP and the Free Voters, does everything that is desirable Project must be subject to a very strict condition of financing - especially if it is avoided to increase the property tax again.

The traffic light currently estimates the structural underfunding of the city at 12 million euros.

This is due to the fact that the municipality has to bear the financial burden of federal and state social security legislation, such as accommodation costs for recipients of assistance.

On the other hand, the coalition can look back on very positive developments in the city, such as the settlement of the internationally successful valve and control technology manufacturer Samson, which is moving from Frankfurt to Offenbach with 2000 employees.

In order to create optimal transport connections for the company, a fundamental decision for a connecting road is to be taken with the majority of the coalition.

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The traffic light also sees itself in the plan when it comes to revitalizing the city center with a new concept that no longer focuses solely on shops, but on a mixture of culture, education, leisure, living and working and also retail.

The most recent project in this context is the "UND Project" in a former bank branch, where people can meet to cook, eat, discuss, play theater and make music.

Finally, the coalition partners also see progress in terms of the digitization of schools, as Oliver Stirböck, district chairman of the FDP and member of the state parliament, emphasized.

The creation of affordable housing in the city remains just as important for the traffic light, as the SPD parliamentary group leader Helena Wolf said.

Regardless of the need to economize on public transport, the traffic light will continue to pursue the goal of climate change at the municipal level to the best of its ability, said Tobias Dondelinger, chairman of the Greens.

This included solar systems on school roofs and the consistent unsealing and greening of exterior surfaces to achieve a cooling effect.

Dominik Schagereit, FDP parliamentary group leader in the Offenbach city council, emphasized that since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the consequences of which have now reached the municipal level with the task of caring for and caring for refugees, the work in the city parliament has been characterized by common ground.

According to the politicians, 797 people from the war zone have found accommodation in Offenbach.

Aid structures were set up within a very short time, ranging from permanent accommodation to medical treatment.

This achievement would not have been possible without the great voluntary commitment of the people of Offenbach, it said.