Status: 26.09.2023, 08:00 a.m.
By: Andrea Beschorner
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The Neustift cemetery was not only an issue in the city council meeting because of the fee increase. City councillor Susanne Günther passed on a citizen's request to pay more attention to care. © Birgit Gleixner
The increase in cemetery fees at Neustifter and Waldfriedhof has now also been approved by the city council. The fact that it is sometimes more than twice as expensive is not due to the undertaker.
Freising – Cemetery fees the second: After the most recent finance committee meeting of the city of Freising had decided on the hefty increase by a majority, the topic was now also before the city council. This time there were more details, after the Finance Committee had given the impression to some that the undertaker in particular was responsible for the massive cost increases.
Above all, the inquiries of Eva Bönig (Greens) brought light into the darkness. "The undertaker issues an invoice to the city. In the case of a burial, for example, we charge 400 euros more from the citizens than the undertaker does from us. I would have liked to have explained this significant difference," said Bönig. The city of Freising receives an invoice from the service provider for the funeral, which the city then passes on to the citizens with a surcharge, according to the statement from the administration. "The direct burial is only part of the cost." Mayor Tobias Eschenbacher listed what else is added: "Maintenance costs for the funeral hall, for example, caretaker services, winter services and much more."
That was already clear to her, said Bönig. It is not clear to her that there will be a cost increase of more than 100 percent in some cases. "I can understand that we have increased operating and energy costs, but I still don't see such a blatant increase in costs," she regretted. In fact, the total costs of 380,000 euros for the forest cemetery now amount to 700,000 euros, which must now be passed on to the citizens. In the Neustift cemetery, it is now 99,000 euros instead of the previous 108,000.
Building maintenance is very important
One item stood out in the overview: In the forest cemetery, 128,000 euros for building maintenance are significant in the current operating costs. "That's the big difference, that we now also include building maintenance and administrative costs in the calculation," said city councillor Rudi Schwaiger (CSU). And that makes up the difference between what the undertaker demands and what the city of Freising has to apportion in terms of costs. If, for example, a new roof or other complex renovation work is due, it quickly becomes expensive, according to the mayor. The higher fees were introduced for both cemeteries with 17:12 votes.
Complaints about Neustift Cemetery
Under the item Requests, Susanne Günther (Greens) passed on a complaint that she had received by e-mail. "The Neustift cemetery is not supposed to be very well maintained." She asked the administration to investigate and remedy the situation.
