Too expensive!

Children's home suddenly on the brink

Created: 07/01/2022, 12:24 p.m

By: Andreas Sachsen

The kindergarten fees in Lenggries are increasing significantly.

(symbol photo) © Uwe Anspach / dpa

The new children's home in Oberschleißheim is suddenly on the brink.

The municipality can probably not cope with the cost increase of 4.5 million euros.

Oberschleißheim

– The Schleißheim municipal council rejected the plans for the much-needed children's home as too expensive.

Instead of the seven million euros available in the budget, the new building planned for the indoor pool should cost 11.7 million.

The town hall does not see itself in a position to finance the additional requirement from its own resources.

The decision, which was made with a clear majority (2:20), jeopardizes the planned commissioning date of autumn 2024.

According to Mayor Markus Böck (CSU), Oberschleißheim is missing four kindergarten and up to 16 crèche groups.

The new children's home is designed for six groups with 110 places and can be expanded to ten groups if necessary.

Since the decision against containers as an interim solution in the same place, the municipality has been stepping up the pace.

They were even willing to postpone the approval of the district office as the responsible supervisory authority.

Where the money will come from, however, remains unclear.

“Early childhood education is one of the most important tasks of the community”

Municipal councilor Casimir Katz (FDP), who was the only one to agree to the architect's plans alongside Mayor Böck, fears legal consequences due to the parents' legal right to a childcare place.

He would finance the missing 4.5 million euros through loans.

"Early childhood education is one of the most important responsibilities of the community," he argued.

The interest burden may be removed by a 25 percent increase in property tax.

The parliamentary groups reacted with restraint.

In order to cover the budget, loans of over 7.4 million euros have already been earmarked for this year.

The additional 4.5 million calculated for the children's home should not be the end of the day.

The "buffer for the unforeseen" recommended by the architects and the price increases to be expected in the construction industry mean that the gap has grown to a good 14 million euros.

The town hall expects 5.2 million euros in subsidies and other donations.

Councilors not enthusiastic

The administration's admission that it was "currently unable to name a financial source for the additional requirement of EUR 4.5 million" made the parliamentary groups sit up and take notice.

The fact that Mayor Böck, of all people, wanted to push ahead with the planning met with a lack of understanding.

Erich Elsner (SPD) refused to "vote on a plan with wrong numbers".

Green spokesman Fritz-Gerrit Kropp spoke of a "no go".

The architect himself indicated that he was not happy with the figures.

Actually, a “single-digit million amount” was targeted.

The price increases are due to the crisis and the "challenging concept" desired by the designated provider, the neighborhood help (NBH).

Peter Benthues (CSU) criticized "planning deluxe".

The children's home may be run according to the possibilities of the community,

not according to those of a highly modern pedagogy.

Irene Bogdain (SPD) rejected the objection.

She is a member of the NBH management board.

The NBH wants to run the house according to the teachings of the Reggio pedagogy.

The concept developed in the 1970s gives children the freedom to realize themselves.

Reggio requires a sophisticated layout.

For this reason, too, the planning office does not see itself in a position to achieve significant savings.

The request from the municipality to revise the plans by the July meeting in four weeks was regretfully rejected by the chief architect, Christian Würfel.

The municipal council asked him to develop a cheaper variant by September.

More news from Oberschleißheim and the district of Munich can be found here.