Hessian municipal code

Basic data
Title:	Hessian municipal code
Abbreviation:	HGO
Type:	State Law
Scope:	Hesse
Legal matter:	Local law
References :	GVBl. II 331-1
Original version from:	December 21, 1945 ; ( GVBl. 1946 p. 1)
Entry into force on:	January 24, 1946
New announcement from:	March 7, 2005 ; (GVBl. I p. 142)
Last revision from:	February 25, 1952 ; (GVBl. I p. 11)
Entry into force of the ; new version on:	May 5th 1952
Last change by:	Art. 1 G of 16 December 2011 ; (GVBl. I p. 786)
Effective date of the ; last change:	December 24, 2011 ; (Art. 17 G of December 16, 2011)
Weblink:	HGO full text
	Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The Hessian Municipal Code (HGO) regulates the responsibilities, powers and rights of the municipalities as well as the institution, organization and structure of the municipal bodies in Hesse .

General

It regulates the details that follow from the self-government guarantee of Art. 137 Paragraphs 1 and 3 of the Constitution of the State of Hesse (colloquially also: Hessian Constitution or HV). Article 28, Paragraph 1, Sentence 2 of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (GG) stipulates that the people in the municipalities must be represented by general, direct, free, equal and secret elections. The communities must have the right to regulate all affairs of the local community under their own responsibility within the framework of the law. In addition, state tasks can be assigned to the municipalities. The Hessian municipal code has been changed many times since 1945; the last major change from 2005 (GVBl. I p. 53) has been in force since April 1, 2005 (GVBl. 2005 I p. 142).

The HGO regulates in detail the structure and course of business, the responsibilities as well as the rights and obligations of the municipal bodies such as the municipal council , in cities city councils , and the chairmen of these organs (chairman of the municipal council or, in the cities, the city councilor). In addition to the decision- making body, the municipal council, the HGO, as the administrative body, appoints the municipal board, called the magistrate in the cities ; the regulations follow the model of the fake magistrate constitution . It also regulates the competences, powers and rights of the mayor (in the so-called " special status cities " also referred to as lord mayor ), the local council , the foreigners council , etc. It contains provisions on local finance and regulates the state supervision of the municipalities.

The HGO forms the municipal constitution in Hesse with the Hessian district regulation (HKO) in the version of the announcement of March 7, 2005 ( GVBl. 2005 I p. 183 ff. ), The Hessian municipal election law ( KWG ) and the Hessian municipal election regulation ( KWO ).

Structure of the HGO

The HGO regulates the following issues:

Basics of the municipal constitution §§ 1 to 28
Administration of the municipality §§ 29 to 91
Community economy Sections 92 to 134
Municipal supervision Sections 135 to 146
Associations of municipalities and associations of municipalities Section 147
Transitional and final provisions Sections 148 to 156

history

First municipal code after the Second World War (first page), in Hesse at the end of 1945

The Greater Hessian Municipal Code of December 21, 1945 was the first post-war municipal code in a West German state and replaced the German Municipal Code of January 30, 1935 (RGBl. 1935 I p. 49 ff.). The replacement of this first HGO by the Hessian municipal code of February 25, 1952 resulted in a restriction of the group of voluntarily administered municipalities. The number of full-time councilors was also limited.

The HGO 1952 still took into account the fact that there were two different types of municipal constitution in Hesse. On the one hand municipalities with a municipal constitution and on the other hand municipalities with a mayor's constitution . In municipalities with less than 3,000 inhabitants, in which the administration of the municipality was previously the responsibility of the mayor, the main statute could stipulate that the mayor continued to be the municipality director according to the provisions of the mayor's constitution. He chaired the community council. The councilors also had to attend their meetings. The mayor assisted the mayor in fulfilling his duties; they were bound by his instructions. They were not allowed to be community representatives at the same time. In the Main-Taunus district , for example, until 1976 there were two municipalities with a mayor's constitution: the municipalities of Ehlhalten and Wildsachsen .

In communities with no more than one hundred inhabitants, administration was the responsibility of the community assembly and the mayor. The community assembly consisted of citizens entitled to vote and took the place of the community council. One such community with a community assembly was, for example, Frau-Nauses in the former Dieburg district .

These special regulations for small communities were obsolete ( obsolete ) in 1977 after the regional reform in Hesse and were abolished.

Community name and designations

The communities have the right to use their previous names. If a change of the municipality name, a change of the spelling or the addition of distinguishing features is sought, the decision lies with the Hessian Minister of the Interior as the highest supervisory authority. If parts of the community should be specifically named, the community decides itself.

The distinguishing feature is an indication of the geographical location such as on the Main or in the Taunus and is intended to prevent confusion with other communities of the same name in Germany. After the regional reform had been completed, the Hessian Interior Minister published a list of 56 municipalities with such state-recognized distinguishing features in 1982. In the period that followed, four more communities were added:

Liederbach "(Taunus)" on January 1st, 1988
Langen "(Hessen)" on January 1st, 1995
Weimar "(Lahn)" on February 1st, 2002
Rüsselsheim "am Main" on July 27, 2015

An application by a municipality to add a distinguishing feature to its name must be based on a corresponding resolution by the municipal council. The application must also be accompanied by positive statements from the Hessian State Statistical Office, the responsible Hessian State Archives and the Hessian State Office for Soil Management and Geoinformation.

190 municipalities are allowed to use the designation "city". In 60 cases this right was granted by the Hessian state government. There is currently a threshold of 13,000 inhabitants if a municipality wants to submit a promising application and at the same time can provide evidence of exemplary municipal development work.

The congregations can also use other names that are based on the historical past, the individual character or the meaning of the congregation. The Minister of the Interior may, after consulting the municipality, assign or change such designations. The most common name is the prefixed bath for health resorts. Designations such as market town , university town , science town , Barbarossa town , state capital or district town have been recognized by the state in the same way.

Organs of the municipality (city)

General

The municipal council (city council) is not a parliament in the material sense. Despite the elements of the separation of powers laid out in the HGO, the municipal council is part of the administration . All local law ( statutes etc.) is derived law. The municipal council has no direct legislative power. Clearly formulated in Section 29 (1) HGO: “ The citizens of the community take part in the administration of the community through the election of the community council and the mayor, as well as through referendums . “In addition to the possibility of referendums, the municipal code also opens the way for referendums .

A direct comparison of the municipal representation and its structures (committees, parliamentary groups , etc.) with those of parliaments in state parliaments or in the Bundestag is therefore not possible.

local community	city	City over 50,000 inhabitants
Designations
Parish council	magistrate	magistrate
Alderman	City Council (1)	City Council (1)
First Deputy (2)	First City Council (2)	Mayor (2)
mayor	mayor	Lord Mayor

(1) also often with a technical designation such as town councilor, treasurer, etc.

(2) general representative of the head of administration in office

Community representation

(in cities: city council )

The municipal council is elected every 5 years by the eligible residents (also called citizens) of the municipality. The elections are personal, cumulating and variegating is possible. Each voter has as many votes as there are representatives to be elected, which he can distribute among the applicants for a nomination or different nominations. He can give applicants up to three votes ( Section 1 (4) of the Local Election Act (KWG)). It is also possible to delete individual applicants. The election period begins on April 1st of the election year. The election takes place on a Sunday in March, unless the respective local council decides to combine the election with a European, Bundestag or Landtag election or with a referendum or referendum. The last local elections were in March 2016 .

The municipal council decides on the affairs of the municipality, unless otherwise stated in this law ( Section 50 (1) sentence 1 HGO).

Chairman of the municipal council

The municipal council elects a chairman (in cities, the head of the city council) and one or more deputies (also known colloquially as the head of parliament ). It regulates its procedure by rules of procedure . In addition to preparing and leading the meeting with the negotiations of the decision-making body (§§ 57-60 HGO), the chairman has a number of other tasks specified by law (HGO): External representation of the decision-making body ( § 57 Paragraph 3 HGO), holding a or several citizens' assemblies ( Section 8a Paragraphs 2 and 3 HGO), collection of notifications of activities by community representatives to avoid possible conflicts of interest ( Section 26a HGO), receipt of notifications about the formation of parliamentary groups and their boards ( Section 36a Paragraph 2 HGO) , the inauguration and obligation of the mayor and the councilors ( Section 46 (1) HGO), determination of the quorum of the municipal council ( Section 53 (1) HGO), drawing of lots in the event of a tie ( Section 55 (1) HGO), etc.

Community council committees

The municipal council can form committees to prepare its resolutions ( Section 62 (1) sentence 1 HGO). The finance committee (usually coupled with the main committee: main and finance committee - HFA) is the municipality's only compulsory committee ( a finance committee must be formed. Section 62 (1) sentence 2 HGO). The municipal council can dissolve and form new committees at any time ( Section 62 (1) sentence 4 HGO). It can also delegate certain matters or certain types of matters to the committees (revocable) for final decision-making ( Section 62 (1) sentence 4 HGO).

For the business of a committee, the regulations (for community representation) on the public ( Section 52 HGO), quorum ( Section 53 HGO), voting ( Section 54 HGO) and elections ( Section 55 HGO), the voting out of the committee chairman and his representative ( § 57 Paragraph 2 HGO), the calling, summoning and chairing of meetings as well as the execution of committee resolutions ( § 58 Paragraphs 1 to 4 HGO), the consultation with the municipality board regarding the setting of the agenda and the time of the committee meeting ( § 58 para. 5 sentence 1 HGO) accordingly. The committees have to report on their activities in the municipal council ( § 62 Abs. 1 Satz 4 HGO).

Parish council

(in cities: magistrate )

The municipality board is composed of the mayor as chairman, the first alderman (the general representative of the mayor if he is prevented from doing so; Section 47 sentence 1 HGO) and (at least one) other alderman ( Section 65 paragraph 1 HGO). With the exception of the full-time members, the community board is elected by the community council for their election period ( Section 39a (2) sentence 2 HGO). The elections usually take place in the first meeting (colloquially also called the constituent meeting ) of the municipal council. The term of office of the parish council of the previous electoral term ends with the election of the new parish council ( § 41 HGO: “Continuation of official business”).

The number of full-time members of the municipality board is to be specified in the main statute of the municipality; the number of full-time members may not exceed the number of honorary members of the community board ( Section 44 (2) sentence 3 HGO).

The municipality board handles the business of the administration according to the specifications of the municipality council within the scope of the available funds ( § 66 paragraph 1 sentence 1 HGO).

Commissions

The municipality board can form commissions under its control for the permanent administration or supervision of individual business areas as well as for the execution of temporary assignments. Commissions are made up of the mayor as chairman, other members of the community board and the community council and, if necessary, of knowledgeable residents ( § 72 HGO).

mayor

(in communities with more than 50,000 inhabitants: Lord Mayor )

See main article Mayor (Hessen) .

The mayor is directly elected by the residents who are entitled to vote. The term of office is six years.

Local councils

In its main statute, the municipality can stipulate the formation of local districts with local advisory boards ( Section 81 (1), sentences 1-3 HGO). The local advisory board has the right to make proposals in all matters relating to its local district ( Section 82 (3 ) HGO). The chairman elected by the body is called the mayor . On a small scale, his task is comparable to that of the chairman of the municipal council. He invites to the meetings, chairs them and signs the minutes. He represents the local advisory board externally, e.g. B. vis-à-vis the parish council, the parish council and their committees.

The election of the local councils takes place parallel to the local elections every five years. The previous mayor will invite you to the constituent meeting. If a local advisory board has been set up for the first time, the mayor invites you to do so ( Section 82 (6 ) HGO). The local advisory board consists of a minimum of three and a maximum of nine members. If a district has more than 8,000 inhabitants, the local advisory council consists of a maximum of 19 members. ( § 84 HGO)

Foreigners Advisory Council

In municipalities with more than 1,000 foreign residents, a foreigners advisory board must be set up ( Section 84 HGO). Foreigners of legal age who have lived in the municipality for at least six months are eligible to vote ( Section 86 HGO). Germans who have acquired German citizenship in Germany are also entitled to vote. The election period is five years.

Other bodies

The Hessian Association of Towns and Municipalities and the Hessian Association of Cities act as representatives of the communities and cities in Hessen . You will be heard on legislative proposals in the state that have an impact on local authorities.

In many cases, communities are also members of associations that either pursue goals that are in the interests of the community, on whose decision-making the community would like to influence, or in associations that were initiated by the community itself in order to achieve community goals.

In some Hessian municipalities, the main statute gives children and young people institutionalized opportunities to participate, as provided for in Section 4c HGO, for example in the youth committee of the municipal council. The actual participation opportunities for children and young people vary greatly in the individual municipalities, depending on the participation interests of the people involved.

Participation of children and young people

Every community is free to appropriately involve children and young people in planning and projects that affect their interests ( § 4c HGO). For example, the municipality can set up a child and youth council made up of politically active children and young people who live in the city or municipality concerned.

Emergency Committee

With the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic , the Hessian state parliament added a new § 51a "Urgent decision in place of the municipal council" to the HGO on March 24, 2020 . There, the municipalities are authorized, in urgent matters, if the previous decision of the municipal council cannot be obtained and reasons of public welfare do not tolerate delay, to have an emergency committee decide in place of the municipal council. In so far as the municipal council has not set up a special committee for this purpose, this is the existing finance committee. In this case the committee can meet in closed session. The decision can be made by circulation. The law and thus Section 51 a will expire on March 31, 2021.

With the temporary transfer of tasks and the exclusion from the principle of public disclosure, the ability of the municipality to act is to be secured even in the current time of crisis. The committee may also exercise the important decisions within the meaning of Section 9 (1) HGO. The authorization is to be limited to what is absolutely necessary according to its importance in terms of content, scope and duration. After an emergency decision has been made, the chairman of the municipal council must be informed immediately in writing or electronically. In addition, according to Section 53 (2) HGO, the public must be informed. The decision made must be put on the agenda of the next available meeting of the municipal council. This should give the representation the opportunity to approve or revoke the emergency decision. This does not apply if third party rights have already arisen in the course of executing the resolution.

The decision on the invitation and the inclusion of a motion on the agenda is made in the emergency committee by the committee chairman. He is responsible for checking whether an application fulfills the requirements of Section 51a and whether the urgent competence is given. The chairman of the committee is obliged to convene a committee meeting if the requirements of Section 56 (1) sentence 2 are met.

Budgetary

The explanations in this article are based on cameralistic bookkeeping. Instead of this, the "commercial DOUBLE bookkeeping in debit and credit accounts" ( double ) is increasingly being used. One hopes that the changeover to Doppik will result in a. more cost transparency, various cost advantages and overall more efficient work. In particular, the “double” is intended to prevent future generations from being managed at the expense of future generations. The regulations that apply after a change are described under Doppik .

In addition to the HGO, the regulation on the preparation and execution of the budget of the municipalities with administrative bookkeeping 2009 (Municipal Budget Regulation-Administrative Bookkeeping - GemHVO-Vwbuchfg 2009) of April 2, 2006, which specifies the rules of the HGO, is decisive for the budgetary management of the municipality.

Budget and budget charter

The budget consists of the budget charter with annexes (§ 97 Paragraphs 2 and 4 HGO, § 2 GemHVO), the administrative budget , the property budget and the establishment plan . The budget is to be derived from a medium-term financial plan , which is to be submitted to the municipal council with the budget (§ 101 HGO). This consists of an investment plan and a financial plan .

The administrative draft of the budget is discussed in the municipality board and, if necessary, determined by the municipality board after changes have been incorporated. If an assistant is appointed for the administration of finance ( treasurer ), he prepares the draft. The treasurer is also entitled to attach a personal statement if his suggestion is not complied with ( Section 97 (1) HGO) and to represent his opinion during the deliberations in the municipal council and its committees ( Section 97 (3) sentence 3 HGO).

The budget determined by the municipal board is submitted to the municipal council, where it is discussed and approved in a public meeting of the municipal council after it has been dealt with in detail by the finance committee . The advice in the finance committee is the only compulsory committee of the municipality due to this task ( § 97 Abs. 3 HGO).

The municipal council finally decides on the budget statute and budget. In addition to the budgetary authorization, the budget charter contains the definition of the credits and commitment authorizations as well as the maximum amount of the cash advances. The approved budget charter with its annexes should be submitted to the supervisory authority no later than one month before the start of the new budget year. The supervisory authority reviews the budget charter and, in the event of a problematic budget situation, may issue the budget approval with requirements and conditions, for example to prevent the municipalities from becoming increasingly indebted. However, the supervisory authority must respect the municipality's right to self-determination as a valuable asset.

Components of the budget that require approval are the total amount of loans for investments and investment promotion measures ( Section 103 (2 ) HGO), the total amount of commitment authorizations (Section 102 (4) HGO) and the maximum amount of cash advances ( Section 105 (2 ) HGO). Both the draft established by the municipal board and the budget charter approved by the municipal council must be publicly interpreted.

Asset and administrative budget

A central element of cameralistics is the division of the budget into an asset and an administrative budget.

The property budget (or investment budget) contains all capital-forming income or expenditure of the municipality, i.e. all financial transactions that increase or decrease wealth. This includes, for example, expenses for road construction or income from the sale of urban land.

The current expenses and income (i.e. everything that is not in the asset budget) is shown in the administrative budget.

From the commercial accounting point of view, the demarcation takes getting used to. The construction of the town hall is to be estimated in the property budget, the repair of the same in the administrative budget.

Debts to finance investments are shown in the property budget. There is an obligation to make a minimum transfer from the administrative budget to the asset budget in the amount of the current interest and repayment of the loans. This allocation is shown in the administrative budget as expenditure, in the asset budget as income.

The historical separation of these two households will be abolished with the introduction of the double-entry system (see below).

Fee households

Part of the budget are the fee budgets (e.g. for water supply and disposal or garbage disposal).

Here too - as in all other subsections of the budget - income and expenditure are compared and a subsidy requirement or surplus is determined. However, fee budgets should in principle be balanced in the plan. A subsidy of the respective fee budget (the fees do not cover the costs of the respective service) is actually not allowed, but is often practice. This applies in particular to kindergarten fees that do not cover costs in any municipality. But other fee budgets are often subsidized contrary to the wording of the law.

In return, the municipality is not allowed to make any profits in the fee budget. If there are surpluses in individual fee budgets, these must flow into earmarked fee equalization reserves. These serve to compensate for fluctuations, but have to be resolved after a few years.

Medium-term planning

Section 101 of the HGO stipulates that a revolving financial plan must be drawn up for the next 5 years (starting with the current budget year). This must be updated at least annually. This financial planning is based on an investment plan by the municipality. This investment program requires the approval of the municipal council (usually together with the budget).

To prepare a financial plan, assumptions must be made about the development of tax revenues and the community's expenditure. The Ministry of the Interior of the State of Hesse provides orientation data for this purpose.

The purpose of medium-term planning is for the municipality to take suitable measures in good time to ensure orderly budget development, taking into account its probable performance in the individual planning years.

In August 2005, the Hessian Ministry of the Interior published a “Guideline for the Consolidation of Municipal Budgets” (see web links) that specifies financial planning.

Supplementary budgets

The budget or the budget charter can be changed by a supplementary budget (§ 97 HGO). This change can be made at any time up to the end of the budget year concerned.

This will be done by the community council to provide funding for investments that are decided within the year.

Conversely, there is an obligation to issue supplementary statutes immediately if

it turns out that a substantial deficit arises or the budgeted deficit increases significantly and that it is only possible to achieve a mathematical balance through the supplementary budget or
additional or increased expenses are incurred that are significant in relation to the total expenses or
Expenditures for investments or investment promotion measures that have not yet been budgeted are to be made or
Changes to the position plan are to be made.

There is no obligation to draw up a supplementary budget in the case of insignificant additional expenditure, unavoidable repairs, loan rescheduling or increases in personnel costs due to collective bargaining agreements.

The procedure for drawing up and approving the supplementary budget corresponds to that of the regular budget.

Extraordinary and extraordinary expenses / provisional budget management

It may happen that spending decisions have to be made during the current financial year that were not foreseen in the budget. In this case, one speaks of excess or unscheduled expenses. These are permissible if they were unforeseeable and cannot be rejected (§ 100 HGO).

Due to the urgency, the municipality board decides. In the case of considerable additional expenditure, the approval of the municipal council is required in advance.

If, by the beginning of the financial year, the budget has not been adopted, the rules of access to preliminary financial management ( § 99 HGO):

Tax and duty rates remain unchanged
The previous year's position plan continues to apply
Only those expenses may be made to which the municipality is legally obliged or which cannot be postponed for the continuation of necessary tasks; in particular, it may continue construction, procurement and other services of the property budget for which amounts were provided in the budget of a previous year.
If borrowings are necessary for this, they are only permitted in a volume equal to a quarter of the previous year's volume
However, loan rescheduling is possible

Loans / cash advances / guarantees

The community's debt is made up of:

the (regular) loans from the municipality
the cash advances
the portion of the debt of associations that is attributable to the municipality
the debts of their own businesses
any existing guarantees and sureties

These diverse possibilities of showing borrowings in different places make it difficult to compare the debt levels of the municipalities. Comparative figures can be found on the website of the Association of Taxpayers of Hesse.

Loans are used to finance investments and are to be shown in the asset budget. The municipal council decides on the admission and the credit conditions. The total amount of the borrowing requires the approval of the municipal supervisory authority ( Section 103 HGO).

Cash loans are sort of the credit facility of the community. These are short-term claims if the outgoing payments exceed the incoming payments of the municipality. These are shown in the administrative budget. Since the utilization naturally fluctuates, the upper limit of the permitted cash advances is specified in the budget.

Even if cash loans are formally short-term in nature and are actually only intended to ensure the liquidity of the community, large amounts are often financed through cash loans. This is particularly the case when deficits in the administrative budget are financed through this. Actually, this is not permitted ( § 105 HGO).

Guarantees and guarantees The municipality may only accept guarantees and guarantees within the framework of the fulfillment of its tasks. Here, too, approval from the supervisory authority is required, provided the amounts are not insignificant ( Section 104 HGO).

Budget monitoring / auditing of community finances

There are a number of tools in place to ensure the correct use of community funds:

Separation of the community treasury and the community board: The payments are made by the responsible members of the community board (or employees authorized by them) and carried out by the community treasury (which is not allowed to instruct itself). This guarantees the 4-eyes principle ( § 110 HGO ).

Household monitoring lists: The municipal council has the right to use household monitoring lists (HÜL) to prove that the funds have been used.

Annual accounts: The annual accounts must be drawn up within 4 months of the end of the budget year and submitted to the municipal council ( Section 112 HGO ).

Auditing: The auditing office checks the budget to ensure that the budget has been adhered to, that the bookings have been made in accordance with the regulations and that the annual accounts accurately represent the assets, financial and earnings position of the municipality ( § 128 HGO ).

Economic activity of the community

The Hessian communities can and must also be active in the economic field. For this purpose, they can use municipal companies of various legal forms, if the participation is not carried out directly by the municipality: own operations , own companies , equity investments , special-purpose associations , etc. Traditionally in many municipalities, water supply and disposal is a private company or a GmbH (private company ) organized. The municipalities are increasingly outsourcing areas such as building cleaning , property management , data processing and tourism from the administrative area.

A municipality often works in a wide variety of legal forms within the municipality and across municipal boundaries with other municipalities. For this purpose, special purpose associations can use z. B. be used for wastewater disposal if this is geographically sensible. Membership in a data center like ekom21 offers the possibility of organizing municipal services on a reasonable scale.

The advantage here is that the outsourced areas no longer the credit burden on the community and independent and economic work can, as this is possible within the framework of municipal financial management. The separation leads to greater financial transparency, especially in cost-accounting institutions.

The loss of political control has a disadvantageous effect . In addition, outsourced areas are often still, but now at least openly, subsidized companies.

Until the Hessian municipal law amendment 2005 (GVBl. I p. 54), the Hessian regulation of the economic activity of the municipalities in § 121 HGO differed from most other municipal ordinances in that the so-called "subsidiarity clause" was not explicitly mentioned. In most of the other municipal codes of the federal states and also in the previous standard of Section 67, Paragraph 1, No. 3 of the German Municipal Code of 1935 , the requirement that the public purpose that justifies the municipal company was always explicitly set out for the establishment of a municipal company , is not or cannot be fulfilled better and more economically by another. But even without this express subsidiarity clause, it was assumed, due to the connection to the public purpose, that the local economy is also subsidiary under the Hessian municipal code, which was valid until 2004, because there is no public purpose for economic activity if this task is better by others or can be met more economically. Nevertheless, the Hessian legislature has now decided to include such a “real subsidiarity clause” in the law. According to the state government, the purpose of this is to protect the community from unnecessary economic risks and to protect the private sector from harming its legitimate interests (Hessischer Landtag, 16th electoral period, printed matter 16/2463, p. 59). However, this restriction does not apply to activities that were carried out before April 1, 2004.

Criticism of individual regulations of the HGO

Position of the directly elected mayor

In Hesse, the administrative structures in the municipalities based on the German municipal code were retained after the Second World War. Afterwards, the community council elected by the people determined the mayor and the community board. On the one hand, the municipal board supported the mayor in carrying out his official duties, on the other hand it also restricted his power. The mayors in Hessen have been directly elected since 1992. This direct legitimation by the electorate has so far not been countered by any corresponding change in the HGO that would give the mayor greater scope for action. The mayor is still restricted by the resolutions of the municipality board and can at best express his dissenting opinion on the resolutions. In Schleswig-Holstein, for example, when the direct election of the mayor was introduced, the municipal board was abolished. The "plebiscitary element" of local self-government, for example, avoids unpopular budgetary security measures, such as the closure of uneconomical public facilities (e.g. swimming pools, libraries, administrative branches), in particular local and mayor elections.

Expenses and benefits of the electoral law reform

The electoral law reform in Hesse has resulted in considerable additional work, especially for the election workers. The municipalities are burdened with significantly increased costs for holding elections. The determination of the final results takes several days, since the individual votes for various voting actions have to be counted and evaluated by IT. Experts clearly question the increase in citizen participation and participation.

Distortion of the election results through treatment regulations

The electoral process requires healing regulations in order to compensate for the consequence of considerable distortions in the will of the electorate, which significantly influence the election result. The electoral system is shaped by the desire to significantly increase the number of valid votes through reinterpretation. The interpretation of voter behavior provided for by law is not transparent for the layperson.

literature

Gerhard Bennemann, Rudolf Beinlich, Frank Brodbeck a. a .: Hesse municipal constitutional law (Hessian municipality code, Hessian district code, law on communal community work, law to strengthen communal cooperation and planning in the Rhine-Main region, Hessian municipal election law (KWG), collection of comments, as of 2007, loose-leaf edition , ISBN 978-3- 8293-0222-7 , in: [1] )

Daniela Birkenfeld-Pfeiffer, Alfons Gern: Kommunalrecht Hessen , 5th edition 2010, ISBN 3-8329-5928-9 .

Friedhelm Foerstemann: The community organs in Hessen: Systematic representation of the responsibilities and the procedure of the community organs as well as the rights and duties of their members , 6th edition 2001, ISBN 3-555-40285-4 .

Georg Hermes, Thomas Groß: Landesrecht Hessen , 7th edition 2011, ISBN 3-8329-6260-3 .

Hans Meyer, Michael Stolleis (Hrsg.): Staats- und Verwaltungsrecht für Hessen , 5th edition 2000, ISBN 3-7890-6760-1 .

David Rauber, Matthias Rupp, Katrin Stein, Helmut Schmidt, Gerhard Bennemann, Thomas Euler, Tim Ruder, Andreas Stöhr: Hessische Gemeindeordnung, 1st edition 2012, ISBN 3-8293-0982-1 .

Fritz W. Schmidt: Hessische Gemeindeordnung (HGO): with Hessischer Landkreisordnung, 2nd edition 2008, ISBN 3-406-49745-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Law amending the Hessian municipal code (GVBl. II 330-33) of January 31, 2005 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 2005 No. 3 , p. 54 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 388 kB ]).
↑ Announcement of the change in the Hessian municipal code (GVBl. II 330-33) of March 7, 2005 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 2005 No. 7 , p. 142 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 507 kB ]).
^ German municipal code of December 21, 1945 . In: The Hessian Minister President (Hrsg.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1946 No. 1 , p. 1 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 999 kB ]). At that time it was initially referred to as the German Municipality Code - like the German Municipality Code of 1935, which was influenced by the Nazis. The title was only corrected on April 9, 1946 in the Greater Hessian Municipal Code (GVBl. Für Groß-Hessen 1946 p. 99).
↑ RGBl. 1935 I . Austrian National Library. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
^ German municipal code of February 25, 1952 . In: The Hessian Minister President (Hrsg.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1952 No. 4 , p. 11 , § 155 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 4,9 MB ]).
↑ § 9 Paragraph 2, §§ 78 and 79 of the HGO 1952
↑ Archive files of the municipal supervision in the Main-Taunus-Kreis
↑ § 9 Paragraph 3 and § 80 of the HGO 1952
↑ Official spelling of the community names and addition of distinguishing features from January 26, 1982 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1982 No. 6 , p. 271 , point 136 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 6.8 MB ]).
↑ Addition of a distinguishing feature to the community name Liederbach from September 28, 1987 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1987 No. 42 , p. 2091 , point 890 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 6.6 MB ]).
↑ Addition of a distinguishing feature to the community name Langen from November 4, 1994 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1994 No. 47 , p. 3439 , point 1100 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 4.6 MB ]).
↑ Addition of a distinguishing feature to the community name Weimar from January 17, 2002 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 2002 No. 5 , p. 447 , point 121 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 10.5 MB ]).
↑ Addition of a distinguishing feature to the community name Rüsselsheim. Decree of July 27, 2015 (StAnz. 33/2015 p. 831) ( Memento of September 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) PDF file 1.2 kB
↑ Hessischer Landtag, 16th electoral period, printed matter 16/4621 of January 17, 2006
^ Hessian Ministry of the Interior and for Sport: municipalities and districts
↑ Printed matter 16/2463 (PDF) Hessian Landtag. July 6, 2004. Retrieved May 9, 2019.

[1] Law amending the Hessian municipal code (GVBl. II 330-33) of January 31, 2005 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 2005 No. 3 , p. 54 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 388 kB ]).

[2] Announcement of the change in the Hessian municipal code (GVBl. II 330-33) of March 7, 2005 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 2005 No. 7 , p. 142 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 507 kB ]).

[3] German municipal code of December 21, 1945 . In: The Hessian Minister President (Hrsg.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1946 No. 1 , p. 1 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 999 kB ]). At that time it was initially referred to as the German Municipality Code - like the German Municipality Code of 1935, which was influenced by the Nazis. The title was only corrected on April 9, 1946 in the Greater Hessian Municipal Code (GVBl. Für Groß-Hessen 1946 p. 99).

[4] RGBl. 1935 I . Austrian National Library. Retrieved May 9, 2019.

[5] German municipal code of February 25, 1952 . In: The Hessian Minister President (Hrsg.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1952 No. 4 , p. 11 , § 155 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 4,9 MB ]).

[6] § 9 Paragraph 2, §§ 78 and 79 of the HGO 1952

[7] Archive files of the municipal supervision in the Main-Taunus-Kreis

[8] § 9 Paragraph 3 and § 80 of the HGO 1952

[9] Official spelling of the community names and addition of distinguishing features from January 26, 1982 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1982 No. 6 , p. 271 , point 136 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 6.8 MB ]).

[10] Addition of a distinguishing feature to the community name Liederbach from September 28, 1987 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1987 No. 42 , p. 2091 , point 890 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 6.6 MB ]).

[11] Addition of a distinguishing feature to the community name Langen from November 4, 1994 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 1994 No. 47 , p. 3439 , point 1100 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 4.6 MB ]).

[12] Addition of a distinguishing feature to the community name Weimar from January 17, 2002 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): State Gazette for the State of Hesse. 2002 No. 5 , p. 447 , point 121 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 10.5 MB ]).

[13] Addition of a distinguishing feature to the community name Rüsselsheim. Decree of July 27, 2015 (StAnz. 33/2015 p. 831) ( Memento of September 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) PDF file 1.2 kB

[14] Hessischer Landtag, 16th electoral period, printed matter 16/4621 of January 17, 2006

[15] Hessian Ministry of the Interior and for Sport: municipalities and districts

[16] Printed matter 16/2463 (PDF) Hessian Landtag. July 6, 2004. Retrieved May 9, 2019.