Mayor and Finance Commissioner Daniel Köbler is pleased “that the deficit for 2025 has now turned out to be significantly lower. At the same time, I remain committed to consistently pursuing the course we have set toward a balanced budget. This will continue to require a major effort on the part of the city. Furthermore, it remains essential that the federal and state governments finally initiate fundamental and rapid reforms to ease the burden on local governments.”

The annual financial statements for fiscal year 2025 were prepared by the Finance Department and audited by the Audit Office: The operating budget closed with a deficit of 64.2 million euros. A deficit of 89.3 million euros had been projected. The improvement of approximately 25 million euros is primarily attributable to higher revenue from trade tax totaling approximately 15 million euros due to back payments, higher revenue from the municipality’s share of income tax amounting to approximately 6 million euros, and a supplementary allocation from the state amounting to approximately 4.5 million euros.

It should be noted that the 2025 operating budget includes a one-time special effect of approximately 45 million euros resulting from the full reversal of the special reserve established in 2022 for municipal financial equalization. Without this special effect, the deficit for 2025 would be approximately 109 million euros. (In the original budget, it would have been approximately 134 million euros.)

The capital budget closes with a shortfall of 204.2 million euros. Compared to the projected figure of 265.7 million, this represents an improvement of approximately 61 million euros. In addition to the reasons for the improvement already cited for the operating budget, the financial budget also benefited from the fact that the planned investment measures were not fully implemented.

Additional key figures for the state capital of Mainz as of December 31, 2025:

• Total assets: 3.9 billion euros
• Equity: 1.9 billion euros
• Total debt: 513 million euros

The City of Mainz’s debt consists of 363 million euros in investment loans and 150 million euros in liquidity loans. Contrary to plans, the total amount of liquidity loans did not increase compared to the previous year.

The Audit Office’s review of the annual financial statements did not result in any objections. The Audit Office recommends that the Audit Committee and the City Council approve the annual financial statements and grant discharge to the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, and the City Councilors.

The Audit Committee is scheduled to review the matter on August 18 and September 30, 2026, and the City Council on November 25, 2026.