A deficit of 2.2 million euros is expected for the Plantsch this year - a horrendous sum.
"It won't be that bad," says bathroom boss Andreas Kosian.
Nevertheless, he has bad news for all sauna-goers and reports on the very bad downsides of the current visitor records.
Schongau – In the Schongau family pool, you are currently tumbling from one extreme to the other.
First of all, the negative numbers are rising to dizzying heights: without going into much detail, the city council recently passed a budget statute with a deficit of more than 2.2 million euros in the splash.
329,000 euros are set for the power consumption sector alone, and 420,000 euros for other operating energy – and the individual items add up.
Where does the budgeted deficit come from?
But where does this huge projected deficit come from?
Because even last year, with the aftermath of the corona pandemic and price increases due to the consequences of the Ukraine war, at times “only” a horror scenario of 1.8 million euros was expected, and Kosian had expected the total deficit for 2022 in January to be around 1 .2 million euros, the operating result for 2021 was almost exactly a deficit of one million euros.
Andreas Kosian, head of the municipal company Plantsch, has the explanation ready.
Since the beginning of this year, the city of Schongau has been billed directly - this restructuring was necessary for tax reasons and was quickly implemented at the end of 2022.
All expenses for the buildings and their maintenance such as energy, district heating, waste, water or sewage are now listed directly in the city's budget, says Kosian.
"We're only responsible for the staff, we'll pass everything else through."
Image of the "crystal ball" suitable for chamberlains: You always calculate in the uncertainty of what the actual costs will be
At this point, as is so often the case with budget planning, the image of a “crystal ball” is extremely appropriate, said city treasurer Werner Hefele when asked by the Schongauer Nachrichten.
You always calculate with the uncertainty of what costs would actually be incurred for items such as electricity and energy.
"The question is how it actually happens," says Hefele.
The point in time at which the city treasurer drew up the budget "probably gave rise to fears that it could go like this in the 'worst case'," explained Kosian.
The chamberlain had calculated quite conservatively.
"It won't be like that by a long shot," Kosian is certain.
The expenses would be put into perspective both in terms of electricity costs and in the case of district heating.
The new, lower district heating price from April is already fixed.
Bad-Chef is certain that the deficit will not be that high
Work is also continuing to improve the energy balance: the PV system, which will soon be installed on the new sauna land building, has an output of 83.03 kWp and is expected to generate 71,000 kWh of electricity per year for self-consumption, says Kosian Pay.
"Depending on the electricity price to be applied, electricity worth 17,000 to 35,000 euros does not have to be purchased from the public grid." The system already installed in the Plantsch has an output of 65 kWp.
According to the contract, all of the electricity generated from this system is still fed into the grid and supplies around 30,000 euros with an annual yield of around 55,500 kWh.
More visitors than before Corona, almost too much for the staff
One cannot complain about the number of visitors to the Plantsch.
The record visitor numbers described by Kosian in January remain high: "Before the crisis years (from March 2020) we last had around 47,000 total visitors between December and February (paying visitors without small children, schools, clubs), currently since the closure of the wave mountain around 56,000 visitors for financial reasons, an increase of 19 percent.
And the trend continued to rise in March due to the closure of the Garmisch baths for renovation.
In the same period, around 18,000 visitors in Saunaland almost reached the level of the pre-crisis period (18,500).
Problem with drunk bathers who don't know how to behave
In the end, however, one complains about the many visitors.
"It's a great thing in terms of profitability, but we don't just celebrate it, it's exhausting for the staff, we're running at the limit of capacity, we can't keep it up in the long run," says Kosian.
Mainly because a new middle-aged clientele from the foothills of the Alps has just discovered the spa for themselves, and they probably treat alcohol a little differently than all other pool visitors.
Kosian reports loud and unpleasant guests.
"Sometimes it escalates, which is why we've had the police in the house a few times," says Kosian.
He reports on unasked overly clingy guests in the sauna or a drunk, bare-breasted woman at the checkout who couldn't find her clothes.
Drinking alcohol is not prohibited, but you want to keep an eye on it
It is not easy to ask visitors about it, because in principle it is not forbidden to drink something, alcoholic beverages are also served in the pool area.
“But we have to actively tackle the alcohol problem and look extremely carefully.
Normal guests are right to complain.” In 2016, when the sauna was expanded, there was already an effect like this with a large number of new visitors all at once.
However, Kosian is certain that the number of visitors will level off at a slightly lower level again.
Bad news: the new Saunaland building has to close for a few months this year
And another piece of bad news: Expensive repairs are pending, some of which the city has to bear itself.
The new sauna area in Schongau is being renovated.
The reason is massive structural damage from 2015/2016, which has not yet been repaired.
After a hearing at the district court in Munich, the city council decided in a closed session on Tuesday: an out-of-court agreement was reached with the construction company.
"The situation is complicated, the report alone comprises 100 pages plus 200 pages of appendices," explains Till Penski from the municipal building authority.
Not everything could be finally clarified.
Although the floor tiles were obviously not laid professionally, damage to the walls cannot be clearly attributed to the company.
"The city council made a positive decision," says Penski.
So you have the renovation in your own hands.
All the trouble is about the shower area in the panorama sauna
All the trouble is about damage in the shower area of the panorama sauna.
"It's really terrible and it started a good year after it went into operation," says the head of the pool, Andreas Kosian.
The moisture was noticed more and more, in the end it literally sprayed out of the tile joints.
Apparently the joint adhesive didn't hold.
Construction will start in mid-June
Construction is scheduled to start as early as mid-June, and the work will take a long time.
Kosian estimates that the new Saunaland building will only be able to reopen after the regular maintenance period at the end of September.
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