Because the deficit is growing: daycare fees are increasing significantly in Petershausen

It is not a surprise, but parents will not be exactly happy: The fees for childcare will rise significantly in Petershausen from September.

Town hall chief Marcel Fath (FW) had already publicly announced an increase in May, and now the town council has passed the new statutes.

Petershausen

- After that, daycare fees will rise by around 40 percent. Families who have their child looked after for six to seven hours will in future pay 395 euros (previously 270 euros) in the crèche and 200 euros in the kindergarten (previously 140 euros). A further adjustment of a flat rate of 15 euros is planned for the coming year. These rates only apply in the community facilities, ie in the “Biberbau” crèche and the “Mosaik” kindergarten, which now also includes the “Mäuseburg” toddler group.

But the tariffs will also rise in the other facilities of other providers in the area from autumn, Mayor Fath announced in May. The reason is higher personnel costs due to the conurbation allowance. In view of the enormous deficit that the municipality records every year in childcare, the fee increase in the municipal council was undisputed. However, CSU parliamentary group chairman Günter Fuchs had campaigned for the increase to be more moderate and evenly distributed over two years. But with eleven to seven votes, the councils voted to take the big step immediately.

Fath explained how necessary the adjustment of the fees is.

In the “Glonntaler Biberbau” day nursery alone, annual costs of 912,000 euros would be offset by income of 524,000 euros.

For a daycare place (care time six to seven hours) “we would have to charge 595.83 euros in order to cover the costs”.

The parental fee is currently 270 euros, "that is an insane range".

And even after the now decided increase to 395 euros, there remains a clear minus.

The parents' councils “support the increase and can understand that,” reported Fath of the corresponding discussions.

Günter Fuchs had advocated adapting it in two steps.

According to his suggestion, the above-mentioned childcare place would have cost 175 euros in the kindergarten and 338 euros in the crèche from this September.

From September 2022, the amounts would have risen to 201 and 377 euros.

The administration's proposal is the right approach, says Bernhard Franke (SPD), "we have a large deficit, and parents have paid low fees for a long time."

In comparison with other municipalities in the region and in the district of Dachau, Petershausen is, according to Fath, when asked by Gerhard Weber (CSU), “still in the middle”.

The front runner when it comes to daycare fees is currently Hebertshausen with 413 euros.

In the village, too, the fees for the community facilities will continue to be in the middle range of all day care centers.

The presented calculation creates transparency and "an awareness of what we are doing," emphasized Andrea Stang (FW).

After the municipal councils had asked in the preliminary advisory main and finance committee, town hall employee Susanne Salvamoser explained the support families receive in terms of daycare fees.

For example, parents do not fully pay the fees in the kindergarten and receive a monthly allowance of 100 euros from the Free State, which is deducted from the daycare fees.

In fact, a place in the Kindergarten Mosaik (six to seven hours) currently only costs 40 euros, in future it will be 100 euros.

There is also a daycare allowance of 100 euros for small children, depending on income on request.

In addition, the job center and youth welfare office are helping financially disadvantaged families, says Salvamoser.

Regardless of the cost of childcare, Mayor Fath is worried about the shortage of skilled workers.

As is well known, the market has been swept empty, in Bavaria alone there are 20,000 vacancies for skilled workers, said Marcel Fath.

And: "I'm afraid we won't be able to open the fourth day nursery group because there is a lack of staff."

From what age should children be admitted?

Since the community will take over the “Glonntaler Biberbau” crèche from the “Willkommen Sein” association from September, as the new sponsor, a new child day care facility usage statute is also required. Rather a formality, but at the suggestion of Andrea Stang (FW), there was intensive discussion of the age from which children should be cared for in the future community crèche. The administrative proposal envisaged admitting babies from nine weeks. "I don't want to be old-fashioned, but I think that's very young," says Stang. Such small children need a lot of attention, "I'm not sure if we have enough staff to do it." And young parents received one year of parental allowance with a job guarantee. Bernhard Franke (SPD) suggested one year as the lower age limit. Parents should decide for themselves, says Susanne Strauss (Greens).Especially since depending on the child's date of birth, some families would otherwise have to take care of themselves for two years. In justified exceptional cases, younger children should be admitted, added Günter Fuchs (CSU). Basically, the limit applies from nine weeks, because that's when the eight-week maternity leave ends, explained Julia Koske. The acting head of the "Biberbau crèche" followed the discussion as a listener and was spontaneously asked by Mayor Marcel Fath (FW) for a professional assessment. “But we've never had a child at nine weeks.” Koske does not advocate admission until the age of one. Since parents are entitled to care from this point in time, “we would then have to take in new children over the course of the year as soon as they turn one year old. But that doesn't work when we're full.“In the end there was a compromise: The“ Biberbau ”crèche accepts children from six months old, exceptions are possible.

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