BERLIN (Reuters) - German cities and municipalities should not expect the federal government to compensate them for lower tax income due to the pandemic a second time, daily Augsburger Allgemeine said on Monday, quoting a finance ministry response to an enquiry by the Greens party. It was first and foremost the task of the federal states “to improve the financial situation of the municipalities in the coming years by providing additional support,” the response said, according to the paper. Last year, Germany introduced an economic stimulus package for local authorities to compensate for reduced trade tax and VAT income and to financially support local public transport and the health sector. The German Association of Towns and Municipalities called for the federal government and the states to provide further financial support. “Only with financially strong cities and municipalities will we be able to start up the economic engine,” the association’s general manager Gerd Landsberg told Augsburger Allgemeine Reporting by Kirsti Knolle Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.