Municipal swimming pool too expensive

Opposition raises debt alarm after audit report

The renovation of the outdoor pool is cited as one of the reasons for the high costs of "PKomm GmbH".

(Bild: Strandbad Pressbaum, Nadja Büchler)

Outsourcing the management of municipal operations to a company does not always have advantages - at least for the municipality: because the costs do not appear internally either. Nevertheless, money has to flow - even in Pressbaum: however, according to the results of an audit, the contributions here are far too high, according to the opposition. 

The report by a chartered accountancy firm is said to have been ready as early as Easter - but it was only recently handed over to the municipal council. And in the non-public part, including a note from the governing parties ÖVP and Greens that the paper should not be made public either, recalls Wolfgang Kalchhauser from the citizens' list WIR.

Individual data could be made public
The procedure was then legally examined, says Kalchhauser: "We can say this much about the content of the report: in the previous year, 230,000 euros were paid out to the outsourced GmbH, which manages the school and swimming pool facilities, and more than 360,000 euros have already been paid out recently. But we have no insight into the accounts of this limited company. The fact is, however, that not a single business branch of 'PKomm' has closed in the black."

The report by the chartered accountancy firm was not to be published - the mayor placed it in the non-public section.

Wolfgang Kalchhauser, Bürgerliste WIR

SPÖ and Citizens' List: Together against outsourcing
The SPÖ takes the same line: "The net debt is around 7 million euros," said city councillor Alfred Grubber. And Kalchhauser adds: "They did agree to this year's payment - but the rod was put in the window, they say: It is said to have been posted on social media that otherwise the opposition would ultimately be responsible for the closure of the baths.

ÖVP deputy mayor Jutta Polzer takes a relaxed view of this: the sums are due, among other things, to a necessary loan for the pool renovation. Which closes the circle, but leaves questions unanswered.