Vogtland district council insists on solution

"All we have is expenditure, expenditure, expenditure and we don't know how to finance it. More and more things are being ordered by the federal government but not paid for," said the district administrator, citing, among other things, the changes to housing benefit.

In Saxony, a third more people are now entitled to housing benefit. The districts would have to increase staff to cope with such tasks and would be left with the costs.

The situation is also dramatic in the care sector. Two large providers in Vogtland would increase the co-payments of those in need of care from the previous 2,500 euros to 3,400 to 3,600 euros. "Who has a pension of this size here? Private assets are quickly used up. After all, the district has to pay for it." As a district, you could increase the district levy for the municipalities, but then the towns and municipalities would go bankrupt. "Once something is broken, it is difficult to rebuild it."

"We can only react instead of act, we can only manage instead of shape. It's depressing," said the politician, who used to be the mayor of Klingenthal. After all, the aim is to move the district forward. "We're going round in circles. It really wears you down. You can't switch off at all. You're constantly thinking about how you're going to pay for it all. Yet our district is still in a comparatively good position thanks to its reserves. Most districts have to take out cash loans and pay a lot of interest on them."