“City Senate reallocates funds for Kaiviertel Festival and approves funding for mortuary doctors and fire truck donation”

Mayor Preuner decides with a second vote – City provides 150,000 euros for death examination doctors – Old fire engine for “Farmers help farmers”

On Monday, May 2, 2023, the city senate once again had a heated discussion about the youth culture festival “5020” organized by the Fifty-Twenty association. This also organizes the Kaiviertel Festival. At the request of the ÖVP, 40,000 euros are now being reallocated from the “5020” program to the Kaiviertel Festival. This was decided by the ÖVP and FPÖ (6 votes) against SPÖ and BL (also 6). The decisive factor was the second vote (so-called “directing”) of ÖVP Mayor Harald Preuner as Senate Chairman.

Background: The Kaiviertel festival is still missing around 30,000 euros. ÖVP club chairman Christoph Fuchs: “Youth bands can also be found on the official program of the Kaiviertel Festival anyway. We don’t want to let this festival die, we want to bring both projects together.” The FPÖ is also of the same opinion. Municipal councilor Renate Pleininger: “There are some events in the 5020 concept that can be used well for the Kaiviertel festival.”

On the other hand, Deputy Mayor Bernhard Auinger (SPÖ), head of the cultural department, is not happy with the “double-tracking of the organiser”. And Auinger continues: “With this approach to city politics, you make the Festival 5020 dead in the middle.” BL club boss Inge Haller asks why the ÖVP wants both, “but doesn’t free up more funds for it.” And BL city councilor Anna Schiester adds that the city “has enough money for both projects”.

Remuneration for external mortuary doctors

The health department’s staff capacity is not sufficient for around 1,000 inspections of the dead per year. Therefore – after a corresponding change in the law by the state – a pool of ten additional external doctors was set up together with the medical association and a new remuneration situation was created. External doctors appointed retrospectively as of January 1st, 2023 receive 120 euros per inspection and an on-call service flat rate of 12.50 euros per hour. Since April, there has been a corresponding service bike outside of office hours (specifically: Mon-Thu, 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Fri 12 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Sat, Sun, public holidays 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.). The city is providing EUR 150,000 from financial reserves for this this year (unanimously).

Old fire truck for Kozarac

The voluntary fire brigade of the city of Salzburg is taking out a 1989 Steyr fire engine (10s18/L). The 34-year-old vehicle, with 44,500 km under its belt and a scrap value of 1,000 euros, is no longer state-of-the-art and has a number of defects. However, it does not end up as scrap iron, but is given to the organization “Farmers Help Farmers” by Doraja Eberle. This forwards it to the municipality of Kozarac, city of Prijedor in Bosnia-Herzegovina and assumes all costs of transport there.