May 2026 – Meeting with City Treasurer Doris Havertz
Source: Budget plan 2026, partial results plan Product 0111115 IT-Service, p. 204–205.
| Account | Description | Result 2024 | Budget 2026 | Change | Source (Budget p.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 529180 | regio iT services | 1.368.731 € | 1.758.800 € | +28,5% | S. 204 |
| 525510 | Software maintenance and support | 12.793 € | 97.000 € | +658% | S. 204 |
| 542320 | Software leasing | 26.134 € | 20.000 € | −23,5% | S. 204 |
| 543154 | Expenditure for software | 71 € | 20.000 € | +28.070% | S. 204 |
| 543156 | Expenditure for hardware | 10.254 € | 3.500 € | −65,9% | S. 204 |
| 543146 | Low-value assets (0-800 €) | 53.675 € | 210.000 € | +291% | S. 204 |
| 581180 | I.C. IT and EDP services regio iT (internal) | 1.008.960 €* | 1.136.000 € | +12,6% | S. 205 |
| Partial result Product 0111115 (Deficit) | −1.026.944 € | −1.451.000 € | +41,3% | S. 205 | |
⚠️ Note: The 2025 budget for 543154 (software) was 138,000 € due to the planned MS Office replacement. The 2026 budget drops to 20,000 € – so the MS Office costs were already incurred in 2025. The ongoing licence costs (Software Assurance etc.) are included in other items.
All evidence from the explanatory volume p. 203, lines 864–897.
| Evidence | Wording explanatory volume | Exp. p./line | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Enterprise | „2026: Verlängerung SoftwareAssurance Windows Enterprise 2027" | S. 203, Z. 865 | No amount stated! |
| SoftwareAssurance Caseris | „Verlängerung SoftwareAssurance Caseris & Mittel 2029 Verlängerung Software Assurance Windows Enterprise" | S. 203, Z. 866–867 | No amount stated! |
| MS-Office-Austausch | „In 2025 Austausch MS-Office da Support für die Version 2016 in 10/2025 endet" | S. 203, Z. 894 | Budgeted in 2025 at 138,000 € |
| Training | „Schulungen für neue Software (z.B. aktuelle Office Version, Windows Betriebssysteme etc.)" | S. 203, Z. 882 | No amount stated! |
| Software leasing | „542320 Softwareleasing - Software auf Miet-/Leasingbasis" | S. 203, Z. 885 | 20.000 € (Ansatz 2026) |
🔴 Critical gaps: The amounts for Windows Enterprise Software Assurance renewal are not listed anywhere individually. They are presumably included in 525510 (software maintenance: +658% to 97,000 €) or 529180 (regio iT services) – but not transparently broken down. Training costs also remain unspecified.
Account 525510 (software maintenance and support) appears dozens of times throughout the entire budget plan – in schools, administration, citizen services. Additionally, 543177 (infrastructure MEP licences consumable) appears multiple times per school with the explicit note: "Mandatory for continued operation of school IT infrastructure".
Open question: How high are the total annual licence costs (Microsoft + others) summed across all products? This figure should be available from the treasury – but it is not in the HSK.
1,758,800 € for 2026. What do we get for it?
Item 529180 regio iT services is, at 1.76 million €, by far the largest IT cost block. It grows from 1.37 million € (2024) to 1.88 million € (2029) – an increase of 37% in 5 years.
According to the explanatory volume p. 203, line 872, this includes: "Expansion of the service portal, OZG implementation, DMS system". Additionally, funds for "Digitalisation and AI expansion" are provided per exp. p. 207–208, line 989.
Open questions about regio iT:
The HSK does not mention open source with a single word. That is a strategic mistake.
The city of Munich has shown that LibreOffice works in public service. MS Office 2016 support ends 10/2025 – that would have been the ideal time to switch. Instead, new licences were purchased.
Schleswig-Holstein is switching completely to Linux and open source. Administration PCs do not need Windows – a Linux desktop (e.g. Ubuntu, Linux Mint) can do everything that administrative staff need.
Nextcloud offers file sharing, calendar, video conferencing and collaboration – all open source, GDPR-compliant, self-hostable. Already successfully used by NRW municipalities.
For specialist procedures, DMS and municipal applications, PostgreSQL is free and enterprise-ready.
For project management and internal organisation, there are mature open-source alternatives.
Email, calendar, contacts – all open source, already in use by German authorities.
💡 Specifically: The federal government funds open-source projects through the Sovereign Tech Fund and the Centre for Digital Sovereignty (ZenDiS). The city of Herzogenrath could apply for funding for an open-source migration. Why is this not happening?
Sources: HSK p. 7, p. 57–59 (staff management concept).
💡 Key question: The staff increase of +48% in 10 years is the real structural cost driver. The HSK talks about "efficiency gains through digitalisation" (p. 8) – but at the same time IT costs are rising massively (+37% regio iT in 5 years) and staff positions reach a record. Where is the promised efficiency?
Specific questions on IT strategy, licence costs and open source.
How high are the total annual Microsoft licence costs (Windows, Office, Server, CALs, Software Assurance) for the city – summed across all products? The HSK does not break this down.
Was a cost-effectiveness analysis conducted before the MS Office replacement in 2025 that included open-source alternatives (LibreOffice)? If so: with what result?
The HSK calls "digitalisation and process optimisation" an "important component for efficiency gains" (p. 8), but contains 0 measures on open source. Why is this obvious cost-saving option being ignored?
The regio iT contract costs 1.76 million € in 2026 – +37% in 5 years. What specific, measurable services are provided in return? Is there a regular economic viability review?
Software maintenance costs (525510) rise from 12,793 € (2024) to 97,000 € (2026) – an increase of +658%. What exactly is behind this? Are these licence renewals?
Staffing levels rose by +48% FTE from 2015 to 2024 – yet the HSK only wants to reduce by 2%/year from 2027. Why not earlier and more ambitiously?
Measures 66 (telephone costs), 67 (printing concept) and 75 (customer terminals) are all "under review" – since when? Why does the review of obvious cost savings take so long?
Schleswig-Holstein, Munich, Barcelona – there are enough role models for open source in government. Is the treasurer aware that the federal Sovereign Tech Fund promotes such migrations?
Concrete recommendations for the administration.
Break down all licence, maintenance and service costs (Microsoft, regio iT, specialist procedures) across all products in one report. No hidden costs in pooled items.
By Q3/2026: present a review report on which proprietary software can be replaced by open source. Apply for funding from the Sovereign Tech Fund. Goal: 30% IT cost reduction by 2030.
Independent benchmarking: What do comparable IT services cost on the market? Which services could be provided by in-house staff? Present an economic viability comparison.
Instead of −2%/year from 2027: −3%/year immediately through consistent task review, digitalisation and replacement freezes – except for mandatory tasks.
Every euro spent on digitalisation must be backed by concrete efficiency goals: which processes become faster and by how much? How many FTEs are saved as a result?
Found an open-source alliance with neighbouring municipalities. Share costs, pool expertise, apply for funding together. Stop every city reinventing the wheel.
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