Thousands of citizens in Bavaria are still waiting for a decision as to whether they are entitled to financial compensation for road construction contributions paid. More than three years after the abolition of the corresponding statutes (Strabs), which were made a topic in the early state election campaign in 2018, especially by the free voters, the work of a hardship commission has still not been completed; According to reports, not a single notification has been issued, and no euro has yet been transferred. The application deadline, on the other hand, expired at the end of December 2019, and more than 15,000 requests have been submitted. The Greens, SPD and FDP are now calling on the state government to report to the Interior Committee on this apparent standstill. “More speed in the hardship compensation for road expansion contributions” is their cross-party motion on Wednesday in the Interior Committee.
Johannes Becher, municipal expert for the Greens, presents a personal report from Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) and Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (FW). Aiwanger in particular, who, as an opposition politician, advanced to the pioneer of “fleeced homeowners” and urged the sole government of the CSU to remove Strabs, had to “answer” in Becher’s eyes for the aftermath. The request calls for detailed information, in the first committee meeting in 2022. By the end of the year, so the hope is that there might be some progress after all. A few months ago, Becher once called the case “a symbol for the black and orange state government”, “masterly in announcing, bungling in implementation”. That is a never-ending story.
Compensation for hardship cases is difficult
The matter, however, seems complicated. Property owners who had to pay for road construction under “undue hardship” up to three years before the reform can receive money. In the past, residents sometimes had to shell out tens of thousands of euros. The independent commission decides on the fair distribution of a fixed budget. In response to a written request from Johannes Becher, the Ministry of the Interior recently announced that this can “only succeed in an overall view of all applications” and “contrary to the first-class principle” only when all applications “have been recorded and checked for their admissibility and completeness”. The government could not set the time limits for the commission, but it was working “with vigor”. The chairman of the commission, a former ORH president, had pointed out the legal, factual and technical complexity in the committee in February.
It is conceivable that the motion of the three parliamentary groups will also find approval with the CSU and FW. In the government factions, at least astonishment at the slow process was heard more often (“increasingly annoyed”), especially since citizens are said to have asked their MPs impatiently.