You will look in vain for a vault in the Mainz town hall on the Große Bleiche.

Although the city, which has been highly indebted for decades, now has a good 715 million euros on the high edge thanks to bubbling trade tax revenues.

And for the next two years, at least according to the draft of the double budget 2023/24 just drawn up by the finance department, surpluses of 160 or 150 million euros are again expected, which should then also be added to equity.

However, this is not a casket that politicians can reach into at will, made clear the head of finance, Mayor Günter Beck (Die Grünen), on Wednesday in an interview with the FAZ.

The equity is intended to balance future budgets,

if these should no longer be balanced at some point, i.e. if the gap between income and expenditure widens again.

But it doesn't look like that in the medium term.

Markus Schug

Correspondent Rhein-Main-Süd.

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Because the “Miracle of Mainz”, as Beck calls it, continues.

Above all, the vaccine manufacturer Biontech SE, which is appropriately based in An der Goldgrube, but also other companies from the biotechnology and life sciences sectors are currently causing the state capital, which until recently had debts of more than 1.3 billion euros, to be in a sensationally good position .

Although the trade tax was reduced by a third at the beginning of the year from 440 to just 310 assessment points, from which all Mainz companies will benefit, according to Beck, a considerable 830 million euros will probably flow into this pot again in 2022;

in the previous year it was even 1.2 billion euros.

From recipient to donor in municipal financial equalization

The double budget, which compared to previous years has increased in volume by almost 600 million euros to almost 1.4 billion euros, is to be introduced at the city council meeting on September 21st.

The parliamentary groups can then submit their own applications and formulate a few extra requests until November.

So far, the mayor thinks that the city has been very sensible with the windfall that nobody dared to dream of before the corona pandemic.

A budget surplus of 486 million euros is expected for 2022 alone.

Despite this, spending in the “Nice to have” category has only amounted to ten million euros so far.

Most of the money is used to strengthen companies close to the city, such as municipal utilities and housing, and for additional land acquisition.

After all, the people of Mainz want to develop a biotech hub between the Europakreisel and the football stadium within sight of the Johannes Gutenberg University, which should pay off for the community in the long term.

Beck said that an aid fund would be set up together with the public utility company for citizens who got into trouble as a result of high energy prices.

In addition, Mainz has gone from being a recipient to a major donor when it comes to municipal financial equalization.

but have to transfer 250 million euros to financially weak municipalities.

The old liquidity credits should be paid off by the end of the year except for a remainder of 150 million euros.

Total debt, including investment loans, is expected to be 350 million euros by 2024.

Nevertheless, the city intends to invest more than 300 million euros in new buildings and the modernization of schools and sports halls over the next two years.

The renovation of the town hall on the banks of the Rhine, which will cost around 100 million euros, will also continue.

However, there is no question of installing a larger safe in the Jacobsen building, which is a listed building.