Lord Mayor Sibylle Keupen and City Treasurer Annekathrin Grehling received the budget decree from representatives of the Cologne district government on Monday, April 28. Deputy District President Daniel Lüngen presented the decree at Aachen Town Hall.

This means that, in addition to the 1.3 billion euros for consumptive expenditure, a record total of over 235 million euros is now available for investment in 2025 alone. In addition to this, investment funds of almost the same amount have been secured for measures already started in the previous budget planning. "With the 2025 budget, we are setting clear priorities for a good life in Aachen: Climate protection and education are right at the top of the agenda. Over 135 million euros have been earmarked up to 2028 for measures that will not only make our city more climate-friendly, but also more liveable for all citizens," explains the Lord Mayor.

"Our budget not only secures mandatory statutory tasks, but also specifically strengthens the social structures that make a good life possible for everyone. We are making targeted investments in the areas of education, climate protection and the mobility transition in particular in order to shape the future of our city in a sustainable and fair way," continued Keupen. This is at the expense of equity, with an enormously high deficit of 75 million euros in 2025 alone. The following still applies: "Tax increases only if they are really unavoidable," explains city treasurer Grehling. The new property tax rates are also solely the result of the federal government's property tax reform and are calculated solely on the principle of revenue neutrality.

"Thank goodness we have succeeded in securing a - still - healthy level of equity through the results of previous years, which we can use to meet the unavoidably enormous requirements in 2025." In contrast to many other municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia, the City of Aachen was able to avoid the need to carry forward annual deficits to subsequent financial years, reflecting Aachen's still above-average equity base. "We must do everything we can to ensure that this remains possible in the future. In addition to our own consolidation efforts, we need the federal and state governments to ensure that we do not simply leave our financial woes to future generations or lose our own ability to act," said Grehling.

City Treasurer Annekathrin Grehling presented the draft budget for the years 2025 to 2028 at the council meeting on December 4, 2024. On March 12, 2025, the Aachen City Council adopted the budget bylaws.