Ostermeier
Bohmfeld
The focus of the first half of the session was on some concerns of the church administration Sankt Bonifatius Böhmfeld. The background to this is a conflict that has been smoldering for years between church and parish regarding the management of the “House for Children Saint Mary”, in which the crèche, kindergarten and after-school care center are combined under one organizational roof. A voluntary company agreement concluded in 2012 between the congregation and the church foundation regulates rights and obligations, but there are considerable differences of opinion in the practical application of the agreement.
1. Controversial point: operating costs
A major point of contention is the municipality’s obligation to “take over the uncovered expenses for ongoing operations”. This resulted in an arithmetical annual loss of almost 7,000 euros in the 2019 operating year. The municipality refuses to compensate for this deficit, since in the previous operating years since 2013 a surplus of at least 57,000 euros has arisen, from which the deficit can be compensated.
The church, on the other hand, insists on an annual interpretation of the works agreement and strives to settle the deficit. In order to clarify the differences, she asked for binding statements from the legal supervisory authority. These were now available and were explained in detail by Roland Walter, the head of the state auditing office of the Eichstätt district office, at the meeting. Both the state audit and the municipal supervision of the Eichstätt district office come to the conclusion in their legal assessment that the multi-year balancing of the municipality is not objectionable. The municipality does not have to reimburse the deficit in 2019: “At the same time, there is still a considerable surplus that must first be used up before the municipality has to enter into an obligation to reimburse costs.”
2nd point of contention: depreciation
Another conflict is sparked by the municipality’s practice of not recognizing depreciation on buildings in annual profit and loss accounts. From the point of view of the state auditor, however, the municipality is acting completely correctly on this point as well: “The depreciation is calculated from the investments made and is therefore not part of ongoing operations – this is common practice.” Roland Walter therefore recommends that the church foundation contact the church foundation for clarification with the diocese of Eichstätt. All council members unanimously agreed to forward the two statements of the district office to the church administration.
3rd point of contention: rent
The third point of contention is the rent charged by the municipality for the crèche and after-school care center. While the kindergarten at Bonifatiusstraße 2 is a church building, the new building for the crèche and after-school care center in Bonifatiusstraße 9, which was moved in 2013, belongs to the community. Since the beginning of 2020, the municipality has been charging a monthly rent of EUR 1,000 for its building, which is well below the economically calculated rent of more than EUR 3,000, in order to create a cushion of reserves for subsequent renovation.
The church administration does not want to accept this rent and demands a plausible justification from the congregation, why “various other groups have been allowed to use congregational buildings completely free of charge for a long time – such as the Kotterhof or the school gymnasium – purely for their club purposes”, during the operation “House for Children” “Have to pay rent. Without a plausible explanation, the municipality should waive the rent collection with immediate effect and refund the rent already paid. “You shouldn’t compare apples with pears,” stated Mayor Jürgen Nadler (SPD / FW), “but if the church administration feels that it has been treated unfairly, we can gladly complete the renovation of the church kindergarten building with the renovation of the sports home by FC Böhmfeld compare 20 years ago. “
In all points, the sports club performed significantly worse than the church, said Nadler. Overall, FC Böhmfeld’s own contribution to the total costs is calculated to be more than 50 percent, while the contribution of the operating company, the church foundation, is expected to be eight percent.
Nadler made it clear: “There can be no question of the church being disadvantaged compared to other groups, rather of preferential treatment.” Therefore, there is no need to reimburse the rent.
In a further application, the church administration criticized the fact that it had been waiting for a decision by the community for eight months now as to whether the additional costs of the kindergarten renovation would also be subsidized. In the case of comparable applications from other groups, decisions are made at an earlier stage. The town hall chief explained in detail that this complaint was also unfounded: The 50 percent grant decided in 2019 at an estimated cost of 740000 euros at the time had been paid out in full by the beginning of April 2021.
At the inauguration of the renovated kindergarten in December 2020, the architect announced that “the budget would be kept”. It was not until the beginning of March 2021 that the administration received an exact statement of costs, from which considerable additional costs became apparent: “There can be no question of a delayed decision at all,” emphasized Mayor Jürgen Nadler (further report follows). EK
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