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400 Euro usage fee: Schaftlach morgue remains empty

2023-06-09T05:23:15.524Z

Highlights: The municipality of Waakirchen has invested half a million euros in the morgue at the Schaftlach cemetery. A usage fee of 400 euros is probably too expensive for the surviving dependents. The deficit poses a problem for the municipality. Experts will probably be commissioned to revise the statutes. The municipality wants to be helped by a specialist office to solve the problem.. The new mortuary was completed on All Saints' Day 2019. But it is hardly used at all. It is usually only placed under the canopy of the funeral hall at funerals.



The new mortuary at the Schaftlach cemetery was completed on All Saints' Day 2019. But it is hardly used at all. © Stefan Schweihofer

In order to create a dignified place to say goodbye, the municipality of Waakirchen has invested half a million euros in the morgue at the Schaftlach cemetery. The only thing is that it is hardly used. A usage fee of 400 euros is probably too expensive. The deficit poses a problem for the municipality.

Schaftlach – The fundamental decision to demolish the old Schaftlach mortuary with its hipped roof and bell tower was made in 2014 during the term of office of Mayor Sepp Hartl (FWG). At that time, the town hall received many complaints about the condition of the old walls: it did not meet the needs. The planning dragged on, as did the completion. In the summer of 2018, the construction site, which had just begun, was at a standstill for months. Mayor Hartl withdrew the project from the originally commissioned site manager office and hired a new team. "There was a worm in there right from the start," recalls the current mayor Norbert Kerkel (FWG), who was a member of the municipal council at the time. The eternity construction site in the cemetery caused plenty of ridicule. When the neat new building, equipped with a bell tower like its predecessor, could finally be inaugurated on All Saints' Day 2019, a difficult chapter seemed to have come to a happy conclusion.

Coffin is usually only placed under the canopy

But this is not the case. The new morgue, Kerkel reports, is hardly used at all. He also knows the reason: The user fee of 400 euros is simply too expensive for the surviving dependents. "But of course no one says that," says Kerkel. In practice, however, it is the case that the coffin is usually placed under the canopy of the funeral hall at funerals. It doesn't cost anything. Otherwise, the coffin remains with the undertaker until the funeral, and it is often in the church during the service. "That's what the vast majority of people do," says Kerkel. Not only in Schaftlach, but also in Waakirchen. The morgue there has been renovated by the municipality. "We have prepared both cemeteries beautifully," says Kerkel. The fee for the use of the morgues is the same in both places.

Deficit in cemetery operations

The municipal administration had not expected that the innovations in the cemeteries, which were very much desired by the citizens, would not be used after completion. "At first, we thought it was due to Corona," Kerkel reports. But now the pandemic has been over for a while, but user behavior has not changed. What remains is a deficit because the calculation on which the cemetery statutes are based does not add up. At the citizens' meeting, Kerkel spoke of 60,000 euros.

Kerkel can no longer say exactly how high the usage fee for the morgue was before the new building. "But it was much cheaper." In view of the total cost of a funeral, he considers the amount to be justifiable – and the new building is not excessive. The place where people say goodbye to the deceased should enable a dignified celebration, Kerkel thinks: "It should make a bit of an impression."

Specialist office to revise calculation

One thing is clear: the municipality cannot simply swallow the accumulated deficit. The operation of a cemetery does not have to bring in money, but it does have to cover its costs. "We have to solve the problem," says Kerkel. The municipality wants to be helped by a specialist office. He is reluctant to pass on the costs to the graves, says Kerkel. The fee statute must also be legally secure. That's why, according to the mayor, experts will probably be commissioned to revise the statutes.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-06-09

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