North Rhine-Westphalia Plan for Good Infrastructure – Municipal Funding Budget

With the law on the North Rhine-Westphalia Plan for Good Infrastructure 2025–2036, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia provides a lump sum of 10 billion euros to district-affiliated and district-free municipalities for capital investments in municipal infrastructure. The funding area includes educational and childcare infrastructure, renovation and energy-efficient modernization of properties, transport infrastructure, digitization and digital resilience, sports infrastructure, as well as public safety and crisis resilience. The distribution of the lump sum funds is based 80 percent on population, 10 percent on area size, and 10 percent according to the key allocations in the Municipal Finance Act 2021–2025; districts receive 20 percent of the municipal share of their district-affiliated municipalities. A minimum investment volume of 50,000 euros applies, with a funding rate of 100 percent and eligible expenses according to DIN 276 (construction measures, ancillary construction costs, digitization measures, and accompanying planning, expert, and evaluation costs). Accompanying and follow-up measures remain deductible up to 50 percent of eligible expenses. A subsequent deviation from the intended quotas between the six funding areas is possible by written declaration of the chief administrative officers. Appropriate cost-effectiveness analyses must be conducted for all financially effective projects.

Eligible to apply are all cities, municipalities, and districts in North Rhine-Westphalia that wish to modernize or expand their municipal infrastructure tasks. Investment measures must not begin before January 1, 2025, must be approved by December 31, 2036, and must be completed and accepted by December 31, 2042. The funding is applied for and accessed via the digital procedure "North Rhine-Westphalia Funds," as soon as it is needed to settle due invoices within three months. Upon completion of each measure, a digital completion notification must be submitted, accompanied by confirmation from the local audit office regarding the appropriate use of funds. The evaluation criteria are municipal priorities, sustainability aspects, as well as the earmarking and cost-effectiveness of the projects.