High water price in Icking: fees remain - pool owners do not need a subsidy
Created: 07/01/2022 05:51
By: Dominik Stallein
Expensive goods: a cubic meter of water in Icking costs 3.88 euros – instead of the previous 1.43 euros.
© Roland Weihrauch/DPA
The municipality of Icking is sticking to its water prices - to the frustration of the farmers.
The search for solutions for farmers is ongoing.
A plan B is off the table for the time being.
Icking – It's not just the farmers who are taking to the barricades.
Some entrepreneurs in Icking do not agree at all with the water prices.
As reported, the fees in the Isar Valley municipality have been massively increased: a cubic meter of water costs 3.88 euros – instead of the previous 1.43 euros.
Nothing will change for the time being: the municipal council rejected a new fee regulation on Monday evening.
This is not good news for farmers.
The municipal council is still looking for a solution for the frequent consumers.
High water price in Icking: fees remain - "Pool owners do not need a subsidy"
In the course of the water price discussion, an alternative came up: instead of raising the costs per cubic meter, the municipality could increase the basic charges for all water users.
As Mayor Verena Reithmann (UBI) explained, this is legally possible: Currently, 11.5 percent of the water costs are covered by the basic fee, up to 45 percent would be possible.
Instead of the previous 68 euros, the municipality could charge up to 271 euros and in return reduce the consumption fee.
Farmers rebel: water price in Icking was increased by 170 percent
As a calculation showed, turning this screw would actually lead to farmers and bulk consumers being relieved.
Instead of a total fee - i.e. basic and consumption costs together - of 3.90 to 4 euros per cubic meter used, they would only have to pay 2.70 to 3.13 euros in such a scenario.
The crux of this variant: For medium and small consumers, it would be significantly more expensive overall.
"In relation to all consumers, two-thirds of the citizens would be worse off with a high basic fee," explained Reithmann.
Households that use less than 165 cubic meters of water get off cheaper with the fee schedule that has been decided so far.
"That's a lot that a five-person household consumes," said Reithmann.
She is the mother of three (now adult) daughters.
"Unfair" new regulation is off the table - because pool owners would benefit
Second Mayor Claudia Roederstein (UBI) summarized the sample calculation as follows: "Those who use little - and that's the majority - would have to subsidize those who use a lot - and that's few." She rejected an increase in the basic fee because they "unfair" and "the wrong signal".
She feared that the municipality would "call for an increase in consumption".
For the farmers, the agreed regulation is of course unfavorable, "because the cow drinks as much as it drinks," says Roederstein.
However, pool owners “who do not have to be subsidized” would also benefit from a high basic fee.
Third Mayor Laura von Beckerath-Leismüller (Greens) felt it was "absurd" to adopt a regulation that became cheaper the more raw materials were used.
Saving raw materials should be worthwhile - water price in Icking causes discussions
Reithmann suggested a different procedure: "We want to find a solution for the farmers - outside of the water system." The environment committee should deal with how the farmers could be relieved.
The municipal council saw it the same way and stuck to the already agreed regulation with a 12:1 vote.
The basic fee for a normal meter should continue to be 68 euros.
Ursula Loth (PWG) refused her approval.
She had repeatedly emphasized in the past that the municipality "must act so that its seven farmers can continue to live".
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The increase in the water price in Icking by 170 percent is due to construction work: the pipelines in the community have to be extensively renovated, and the costs for this have to be passed on to around 1,200 households.
You can read the latest news from Icking here.
