City feels left alone by federal and state governments – Not only personnel problems
Rheine. At the beginning of September 2022, the traffic light coalition introduced a new bill to increase housing subsidies for consultation.It is to come into force on January 1, 2023. It is part of a relief package and will result in improved housing benefits for those currently eligible.
But it will also significantly increase the scope of housing assistance by raising income limits and other factors. It is expected that the
tripling of those eligible. For NRW, an increase from the current 150,000 to 450,000 eligible persons is expected.
That federation and countries increase the housing subsidy and in the future more persons profit, considers also Rheines mayor Dr. Peter L?ttmann important and correct: ?The rise of the housing subsidy and the extension of the persons entitled are for many persons also in Rheine an important financial support, in order to carry the substantially risen energy costs ? Nevertheless, the reform poses significant problems for all municipalities. “Unfortunately, we note that no one in Berlin is concerned about the administrative implementation. These are promises at the expense of third parties and too often at the expense of the municipalities. It doesn’t work that way. The numerous reliefs cause far too much bureaucracy,” Lüttmann continued.
The problems are complex: the Housing Subsidy Act is not expected to come into force until November. This gives the municipalities very little time to adjust to the numerous changes in terms of content.Much more serious, however, is the fact that – if the draft is passed in its current form – the available staff capacity will be far from sufficient to even begin to process the expected flood of applications. For Rheine alone, 8 additional full-time positions would be required,even though all possible digital support options are already being used.
With the shortage of staff that already exists today, it is questionable whether sufficient applicants can even be found for the job. And whether this can be done in time is up in the air due to selection procedures and possible notice periods.
The city is already looking for additional office space because the new colleagues can no longer find room in the city hall.
Not only Rheine feels left alone when it comes to finances. Although half of the housing allowance is financed by the federal government and half by the state, the municipalities have to bear the personnel costs and expenses for office space and office furniture themselves. “We expect a total annual additional burden for the municipal budget of around €700,000 as a result of this alone,” explains city treasurer Mathias Krümpel.
Since the housing allowance reform is to come into force only to 01 January 2023, the administration advises urgently to do at present without the first application for housing allowance starting from 01.01.2023. The colleagues recommend the application at the earliest from the 51 . Calendar week (from 19.12.2022). For all housing allowance applications that are received by the housing allowance office of the city Rheine by 31.01.2023 at the latest, the review of the housing allowance claim will begin retroactively from 01.01.2023.
“If you are wondering whether you are already entitled to housing benefit, you are welcome to use the NRW housing benefit calculator on the Internet. After entering definitive data, you will receive direct information about any entitlement and can then apply for housing benefit online by completing your personal data. The housing allowance office of the city of Rheine will then request the necessary application documents from you in writing. Please be sure to include your telephone number and email address in the application,” advises the city administration.