After 16 years of fighting

1:0 for Ollersdorf after legal dispute against the state

Lawyer Martin Fischer helped the municipality of Ollersdorf and Mayor Bernd Strobl (right) to justice.(Bild: Carina Fenz)

Following a decision by the provincial administrative court, the province of Burgenland must pay the municipality of Ollersdorf 118,404 euros for providing the sewer on the provincial road. The municipality has been waiting 16 years for this windfall.

A dispute between the municipality of Ollersdorf and the province of Burgenland lasted 16 years, or as Mayor Bernd Strobl likes to say: "This is the end of the longest ping-pong game in the world". The case itself began in 2008, when the state gave the go-ahead for the renovation of the local thoroughfare. However, according to the Roads Act, municipalities have only been entitled to compensation fees for the provision of the canal on state roads since 2010.

Constitutional Court reprimands the state
In the case of Ollersdorf, however, the road construction project was completed before the ordinance came into force. A fact that the "Gallic village" was not prepared to accept. For twelve years, they therefore fought against the "injustice" by means of countless complaints to the state and finally sought recourse to the Burgenland Provincial Administrative Court (LVwG) in 2020. There, however, the time restriction of the ordinance was viewed critically and the provision was taken to the Constitutional Court. In November 2022, the Constitutional Court lifted the restriction to projects completed at a later date: the provincial government was not permitted to set additional conditions for a claim to compensation. For Ollersdorf, the victory against the state also means an unexpected windfall, with 118,404 euros flowing into the municipal coffers.

ÖVP also sees other municipalities as beneficiaries
The province states that other municipalities cannot derive any rights or claims from the LVwG's decision. The ÖVP Burgenland sees things differently and will submit written questions to the provincial government.