Dresden City Council halts austerity plan - budget freeze remains

Dresden City Council has rejected the supplementary budget for 2026 submitted by Lord Mayor Dirk Hilbert (FDP). This means that the budget freeze imposed in September remains in force for the current year. The supplementary budget was intended to at least curb a structurally growing deficit of around 144 million euros, primarily through savings of 38.3 million euros in voluntary services and postponed investments.

The Green city council faction speaks of a "deliberately accepted standstill". The CDU and SPD had unnecessarily escalated the negotiations in the run-up to the city council meeting, particularly regarding funding for the district councils and localities, said parliamentary group leader Agnes Scharnetzky to the German Press Agency. Funding for cultural promotion and youth work - for example for the open children's and youth center "Moosmutzelhaus" - was now on the line. In addition, "profiling attempts and last-minute amendments" had prevented the decision.

SPD criticizes unequal distribution of the burden

The SPD parliamentary group justified its rejection with what it saw as an unfair distribution of the savings burden: while the draft had provided for cuts of 500,000 euros in funding for the city districts, the localities were to be spared. "But for us, a fair distribution of the burden is essential," emphasized the parliamentary group's financial policy spokesperson, Peter Lames.

According to city spokesperson Daniel Heine, Dresden is now reverting to the status of the rigid budget freeze that applies for the current year. New investments - for example in schools or roads - cannot be started in 2026 for the time being. Funds are only available for mandatory tasks and construction projects that have already begun. Every exception would have to be approved by the treasury, which would cause additional bureaucracy.

The State Directorate of Saxony had only approved the city's 2025/2026 double budget last year subject to conditions and obliged the city to make savings. Together with the authority, the city wants to examine how a new, legally secure resolution can be prepared.