The survey office, which was responsible for 35 of the 39 district municipalities, was a closed-off area within the district administration. For data protection reasons, the district administration was unable to exert any influence over it. The State Statistical Office was responsible for the technical supervision of the survey office. Although the State Statistical Office knew that a good 800 test cases had not been completed, it did not prevent the closure of the survey office and the destruction of the documents. A verification case is an address at which one or, in the case of a large building complex with a large number of apartments, hundreds of citizens may live.As the 2022 census was not a full survey, these 800 cases have multiplied and led to enormous population losses. This is now having a massive financial impact on the district municipalities and the district. The district of Ludwigsburg alone is expecting an annual loss of around 12 million euros from financial equalization from 2026 onwards due to the incorrect census result. For the 35 municipalities affected in the district, the estimated total loss amounts to a three-digit million euro sum.
Figures have not yet been corrected
The State Statistical Office has neither prevented the closure of the census office nor the destruction of the documents. In addition, all attempts to achieve a correction of the population figures by mutual agreement have so far failed due to the resistance of the State Statistical Office. Instead, the State Statistical Office has recommended that the local authorities and the district withdraw their previously lodged objections to the determination of the population figures.
Proposal for round table taken up by the Ministry of Finance
District Administrator Allgaier has already approached the Ministry of Finance several times. Most recently, he suggested setting up a round table to find a solution together. This suggestion has now been taken up by the Ministry of Finance. Previously, the district administrator had also approached the members of parliament from the district and asked them to work towards a correction.
"I see the offer of talks from State Secretary Splett as a sign that the state is taking the problems caused by the erroneous 2022 census in the Ludwigsburg district seriously and is working with those affected to find a political solution that, on the one hand, provides a quick remedy and, on the other, rules out a repeat in future census surveys," says Ditzingen Mayor Michael Makurath, who, together with the other mayors affected, is working alongside the district administration office to correct the census.
"Together with the district municipalities, we will exhaust all possibilities to achieve a correction of the figures," says District Administrator Allgaier. A glance at the census results of comparable districts alone shows that With a population loss of around 3.6 percent, the district of Ludwigsburg has a negative result that is as obvious as it is unusually high. In contrast, the districts of Böblingen and Esslingen have only lost between 1.5 and 1.9 percent of their population. For the district of Ludwigsburg, this means that the population has fallen by just under 20,000 citizens. "We hope that the round table will meet soon under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance and that we will find a joint solution. Because one thing is clear: things cannot remain as they are," says District Administrator Allgaier. "Based on current developments, we expect that no decision will be made on the objections of the municipalities and the district administration until the talks under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance have been concluded."
