Usury allegations: Uelzen residents file a complaint against the city!

Usury allegations: Uelzen residents file a complaint against the city!

There's a lot of simmering going on in the Uelzen town estate. Residents are outraged by the high contribution notices for replacing street lights that were installed last year. One point in particular is causing a stir: the notices list the costs for a total of 34 ditch bridges, which cost 120 euros per piece. This adds up to an impressive 4080 euros plus VAT. Now residents are linking their outrage to allegations of usury and fraud. These allegations are rejected by both the city and the contracted construction company. The citizens' initiative, led by Matthias Heuer, plans to file a complaint and demands access to the construction company's final invoice.

“There is something going on” - the citizens' initiative sees the exorbitant costs as a sign of unfair dealings and suspects that the residents were not sufficiently informed when the ditch bridges were erected unnoticed in the city property. The construction company, on the other hand, remains calm and points out that all work was monitored by the city and an external engineering firm, which supposedly ensured transparency. The city of Uelzen sees no reason to doubt the quantities billed and emphasizes that a transparent tendering process was carried out.

Comparison to other municipalities

The dispute over the costs of road construction projects is widespread, as [ndr.de](https://www.ndr.de/ Fernsehenen/versanden/panorama3/Aerger-mit-Strassenbaubeitraegen-eine-Loesung-in-Sicht,strassenausbaubeitraegen.html) reports. In many municipalities, residents have to pay for road expansion themselves. In Marne, for example, costs of 1.2 million euros are planned for the expansion of Klaus-Groth-Straße, with residents facing amounts between 5,000 and 20,000 euros. Citizens' initiatives like that of Christian Stehli in Marne are fighting against this practice, while in many places the mayors are unable to offer relief due to financial bottlenecks.

In Schleswig-Holstein in particular, many municipalities have abolished road development contributions, which leads to different regulations. According to a survey, only around 20% of the cities in Schleswig-Holstein charge such contributions, while in Lower Saxony it is still around 60%. This partial situation has led to tensions both among the population and among local politicians.

Looking ahead

In Uelzen, many residents feel that they are treated unequally compared to other parts of the city, such as Nordallee. While no contributions were collected there, the residents of the city estate are faced with high costs. The city administration is accused of not ensuring sufficient equal treatment here.

The citizens' initiative led by Matthias Heuer is considering legal action, possibly even a lawsuit before the administrative court. It remains to be seen whether an amicable solution can be found here or whether the matter will continue to become a passionate dispute. While residents are pushing for the matter to be clarified, developments in other municipalities show that the issue of road expansion contributions is not only a hot topic in Uelzen. A fairer regulation, such as the model of recurring expansion contributions possibly suggested by Uwe Schmitz in Husum, could be a solution.