The district freedom of the city of Hanau is to come into force by January 1, 2026.
The district administrator of the Main-Kinzig district, Thorsten Stolz (SPD), assumes this date.
As Stolz said at the district council meeting on Friday, negotiations between the district and the city are continuing and they are on the right track.
If this now targeted date is met, around seven and a half years will have passed after the city of Hanau decided to leave the district.
Hanau is currently one of seven Hessian special status cities that have at least 50,000 inhabitants.
According to its own calculations, the city of Hanau has meanwhile exceeded the limit of 100,000 inhabitants and can start on the way to independent districts.
The city councilors decided to leave in August 2018. The exit date should initially be April 1, 2021.
Luise Glaser-Lotz
Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Main-Kinzig district.
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According to Stolz, a detailed discussion recently took place in the Hessian Ministry of the Interior, in which Hanau's Lord Mayor Claus Kaminsky (SPD) also took part.
This conversation brought the project a good deal further, said Stolz.
According to him, the city and district are still working on the exit contract.
There is already a consensus on essential points.
Among other things, Stolz named the healthcare system, civil protection and the priority areas of the environment, social affairs and asylum.
There is agreement on the pension payments for civil servants who have taken on tasks for the city of Hanau from the district.
Other financial aspects are regulated, including payments in connection with the Hessenkasse.
Another point of agreement is the financial compensation for the district roads in Hanau, especially for the Limes bridge in Großauheim.
Hanau's share of landfill aftercare is now undisputed.
The costs that could arise if previous employees of the district do not move to Hanau, but are no longer needed in the district administration, still have to be discussed.
These would have to be compensated.
There are also no regulations yet on the resulting undercoverage of costs for the disposal of residual waste.
This also applies to the losses
which would arise in the district through the transfer of the non-profit society for work, qualification and training to Hanau.
The district would face sales losses of around 50 percent.
This must be compensated for, for example, by opening up new business areas.
Auskreisunggesetz must be passed by the state
According to Stolz, once the exclusion contract is in place, it will be forwarded to the regional council in Darmstadt and the Hessian Ministry of the Interior for a “preliminary check”.
The contract will be the basis for the Auskreisunggesetz, which will allow border changes on the basis of the district regulations.
The state must pass the law before Hanau can leave the district.
Against the background of this schedule, the date of January 1, 2026 is realistic, said Stolz.
Irrespective of the future independence of the city of Hanau, the city and district will continue their partnership in the school sector, which has existed since 2007, until 2028, especially in the grammar schools.
The agreement contains a commitment from the integrated comprehensive schools Heinrich Böll in Bruchköbel and Georg Büchner in Erlensee as well as from the Georg-Christoph-Lichtenberg-Oberstufengymnasium in Bruchköbel to take in students from Hanau.
In return, the city of Hanau undertakes to expand the contractually agreed admission capacity of around 200 high school students from the Main-Kinzig district by 150 students.
The plan is to expand the offerings of the traditional Hanau high schools, the Karl Rehbein School and the High State School, to a maximum of nine entry classes each if necessary.
If additional space is required at the High State School,
the Main-Kinzig-Kreis bears the costs for the new rooms.
The Main-Kinzig-Kreis will expand the capacity of the Albert-Einstein-Gymnasium in Maintal by up to two classes in grade 5 to nine entry classes.