Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's costly blunders spark taxpayer outrage over wasteful spending

Bad PR for the PR teams of the state government: Two out of six entries from **Mecklenburg-Vorpommern** in the new Black Book of Taxpayers criticize advertising activities of the state. The focus is on the state's daycare educator campaign, which advertises on 100 large-scale posters, postcards, and a dedicated website with slogans like "116,664 muddy pants want to be worn every year" or "5.3 million tears want to be dried every day." The state spends a proud 588,338.26 euros on this action - just when the first educators had to reduce their hours or were dismissed due to declining child numbers, the Federation of German Taxpayers (BdSt) MV criticizes.

Inconsistent policy by the state daycare parents' council

It has received support from the state daycare parents' council, which quotes its chairman: "On the one hand, tax money is used to advertise for professionals, on the other hand, pedagogical professionals who are already working in the system and have many years of experience are not employed further. This inconsistent policy is neither understandable to families nor to the employees. It leads to justified loss of trust in political decision-making processes and to uncertainty in a system that relies on stability and continuity."

While everyone has to save, money is thrown out the window with both hands, the tax association concludes, which also applies to the next MV entry in the black book: the annual glossy wall calendars with beautiful views of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The state chancellery and state parliament distribute them to "multipliers" throughout the country, as well as to associations, associations, and other institutions in the state. Despite the tense budget situation, 138,817.40 euros were spent on production and shipping for 11,700 calendars. "We've always done it this way" is not a good argument in times of tight budgets, the tax inspectors find.

Fee order not adjusted, income wasted

And they don't understand this either: In the MV Ministry of Agriculture, they have not adjusted a fee order for nine years. Specifically, it's about the inspection of seed that is grown in MV on an area of 26,831 hectares. The Landesamt für Landwirtschaft, Lebensmittelsicherheit und Fischerei (LALLF) is responsible for the legally regulated procedure and should charge cost-covering fees.

Actually: Because the Landesrechnungshof checked this and found in the Landesfinanzbericht 2025 that at least 100,000 euros per year were waived because the "Land and Agricultural Economy Costs Regulation" was not adjusted by the Ministry of Agriculture. Although there has been a corresponding draft since 2021, the auditors know. The Federation of German Taxpayers' conclusion: Here, tax money is wasted because it is not even collected.

A roundabout that nobody needs

For example, in the city of Ueckermünde, a hotel resort was planned to be built next to the "Haffbad" and the "Lagunenstadt" on the beach in 2021. All that remains of the ambitious project is a publicly funded roundabout, which, according to the building plan, was supposed to regulate the traffic generated by the hotel.

"Although the hotel is not being built, a roundabout is still being built at the end of Haffstraße for around 1.3 million euros. The city has to bear around 100,000 euros itself. The generous funding for the project was brought personally by the head of the state chancellery at a ceremonial handover in Ueckermünde," the tax association's black book states, speaking of waste. Because neither is increased traffic to be expected, nor is it proven to be an accident blackspot. The German Taxpayers' Association also criticizes the plans of the state capital Schwerin to build a bicycle parking garage near the main station for 3.2 million euros. However, the planned location is on a one-way street that is partly paved with rough stones and is too narrow for opposing bicycle traffic. Furthermore, the bicycle parking garage is not integrated into an overall concept for the surrounding bicycle traffic, the tax auditors criticize. Especially around the main station, the traffic situation for cyclists is catastrophic, with no bicycle lanes and railway tracks on the streets being another source of danger, which casts doubt on the future utilization of the parking garage. There is also criticism of the price of the project, which is on par with that of a car parking garage. The project should be thoroughly reviewed for better and more cost-effective alternatives, the BdSt demands.

The online trading platform 'GoMeVo' was launched during the Corona pandemic to support local traders in marketing their products. It cost around one million euros, but only 20 shops were registered at the time of the first criticism in the Schwarzbuch edition 2022/23, and a total of only 1,714.48 euros in sales was generated in 2022. Despite this, the platform was further developed and more public money was invested, but it remained just as unsuccessful. The BdSt MV has repeatedly criticized this 'state-funded economic failure' and demanded that the project be stopped. In total, it has swallowed around 1.5 million euros in tax money. Finally, in spring 2025, 'GoMeVo' was finally shut down, which the BdSt welcomed: 'Even if the intention to support small and medium-sized enterprises during the pandemic was perhaps a good thing in principle: well-intentioned is not always well-done.'

The sixth Schwarzbuch entry targets the planned construction of a fish ladder at the Nebel in the area of Dobbin-Linstow. In order for it to be built, the mill pond is to be dried out - which was only dredged in 2022 for 925,985.80 euros. Local resistance was raised against this, which culminated in an on-site meeting of the state parliament's petitions committee in the autumn of 2024, involving various experts. The result: there is a less invasive and more cost-effective alternative that would allow the mill pond to be retained and the Nebel to be made passable for fish. However, the Ministry of Agriculture insists on the original plans, which would cost at least 4.2 million euros, the tax association criticizes. 'Fish ladder yes - but not at any price! Even grant money is tax money and must be used sparingly,' is the conclusion. The BdSt demands that the Ministry of Agriculture carefully review the arguments of the petitions committee and make the decisions of the authorities transparent.