German Taxpayers Association presents Schwarzbuch 2026/2027 with 100 cases of wasted public funds
The Bund der Steuerzahler presents its Schwarzbuch 2026/2027 on Thursday at 11:00 in Berlin, Mainz, and Wiesbaden, detailing 100 cases of careless public spending across Germany.
Presentation of the 2026/2027 Black Book
The German Taxpayers Association (Bund der Steuerzahler) presents its new annual report on public spending, the Schwarzbuch 2026/2027, on Thursday, 1 October 2026. The official presentation is scheduled for 11:00, with events taking place in Berlin and Mainz. In this latest edition, the association compiles 100 new cases from across Germany where public authorities handled taxpayer money carelessly. The publication examines financial management across all levels of German government, including the federal administration, federal state governments, and municipal authorities. The association presents the register to call attention to what it views as ongoing waste of tax revenues.
Key areas of public spending criticism
The 100 cases documented in the 2026/2027 volume represent several specific categories of spending criticized by the association. One primary area involves public construction projects where total expenses grew significantly beyond initial forecasts, resulting in exploding costs for public budgets. The document also focuses on newly completed infrastructure that received public funding but currently sees little to barely any practical use. Furthermore, the report lists various administrative oddities and bizarre expenditures where public officials allocated funds to unusual projects. Through these specific examples, the association details systemic carelessness in the planning and execution of public initiatives.
- BdSt publishes previous Black Book featuring spending on a sauna, museum exhibit, and park bench
- BdSt presents the Schwarzbuch 2026/2027 with 100 new cases across Berlin, Mainz, and Wiesbaden
Regional briefings in Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland
Simultaneously with the federal release, regional branches of the taxpayers association present localized findings at 11:00 on Thursday morning. In the state of Hesse, the chairman of BdSt Hessen, Joachim Papendick, presents the state's specific cases during a press conference in Wiesbaden. The nationwide compilation also incorporates distinct cases from Rhineland-Palatinate, alongside cases from the neighboring state of Saarland. These regional presentations provide localized scrutiny of how individual state ministries, town councils, and municipal administrations allocated public funding in their jurisdictions.
Stated goals and precedent from the previous edition
By publishing the annual Schwarzbuch, the Bund der Steuerzahler states that its goal is to push federal state governments and municipalities to deploy taxpayer money more effectively. The organization uses the public release to counter careless handling of public funds and urge authorities to exercise fiscal discipline. The 2026/2027 release follows the previous Schwarzbuch 2025/2026 edition, which criticized public spending on items including a sauna, a museum exhibit, and a park bench. With the 100 new cases presented across Germany on Thursday, the association continues its annual documentation of public financial management.
