"The cities must also benefit sufficiently from the infrastructure package - from schools and sports facilities to climate protection and the expansion of local public transport, we bear a large part of the burden. And unfortunately, we have seen time and again that our financial needs have not been taken into account by the higher political levels. The infrastructure package must be an opportunity to fundamentally reorganize the financial relationships between the federal, state and local governments and to allocate funds according to need," said Mende on Friday in Wiesbaden.

The investment package should provide the starting signal for more local investment. "Even though we are investing almost half a billion euros in new school construction and renovation alone in Wiesbaden, for example, there are still significant needs that we have to cover. The expansion of schools alone to meet the statutory obligation to provide all-day schooling requires a high double-digit million euro sum for Wiesbaden."

Mende said that Wiesbaden is on the side of all municipalities that are complaining about the poor financial resources on a non-partisan basis. The latest "Mayor Barometer" of the German Institute of Urban Affairs - for which all German mayors are regularly surveyed - revealed that almost 70 percent of participants consider municipal finances to be the most pressing issue.

Of the 500 billion euros in the special infrastructure fund, 100 billion is earmarked for the federal states and municipalities. "We expect the state to sit down at the table with us and agree on a fair distribution," said the Lord Mayor of Wiesbaden.

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