In the municipal administration of Elmshorn the number of posts identified is significantly higher than the approved staffing plan. The administration presented the figures to the main committee on 10 November 2026. As at 30 September, the review counted around 610 full-time equivalent posts, compared with around 506 approved posts. Not all the posts counted were filled.
The figures do not represent the number of employees. Part-time roles are combined and expressed as full-time equivalents. According to the Holsteiner Allgemeine, the figure identified was exactly 610.36 full-time equivalents, of which 542.31 were filled. Norddeutscher Rundfunk reported, citing the meeting papers, that around 68 posts were vacant.
The audit office and the central administration department conducted the review jointly. The acting head of the central administration department presented the findings to the main committee. According to Norddeutscher Rundfunk, the review found, among other things, errors in staffing plans and lists of filled posts. Some posts had been assigned incorrectly or counted twice. Changes to working hours, absences, cover arrangements and errors in record-keeping had also played a part.
For example, when someone is covering for an absent employee, a post may remain in the plan even though its usual postholder is temporarily away. The administration must account for such situations in its staffing plan. However, according to the report, staffing plans and personnel costs had not always been kept sufficiently separate.
The audit office also said that apprentices and students had been taken on without corresponding posts in the plan. In addition, no posts had been allocated to the newly created Office for Digital Transformation and Technology according to the report. The city uses digital systems for personnel administration and staffing plans; however, it says that some data still has to be transferred and reconciled manually.
Mayor Erik Sachse noticed the discrepancies during a review in summer 2026, according to Norddeutscher Rundfunk, and commissioned the audit office to investigate. The initial aim was to clarify the number of posts. The financial impact of the discrepancies is to be investigated separately. The difference between the planned and identified number of posts therefore does not in itself establish that there has been a financial loss.
The legal assessment was also disputed at the committee meeting. Sachse described the discrepancies as unlawful and referred to the municipal budget regulations. The chair of the SPD group questioned that assessment and called for a written opinion from the State Audit Office, Norddeutscher Rundfunk reported. According to the report, no definitive independent assessment had been made.
Local politicians must now consider a supplementary budget. At the same time, the administration plans to draw up a proposal for systematically reviewing and correcting the staffing plan. The review must establish not only the number of posts, but also show clearly how planning, actual staffing and personnel costs will be aligned in future.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).