In the club hotel in Götzens in the Tyrolean district of Innsbruck-Land, people infected with Covid are out of quarantine. In ten months only 412 people were taken care of – significantly more homeless than tourists. The total costs to date are just under 947,000 euros. However, the lease has now been extended.
For almost two years now, accommodation has been available in Tyrol for people infected with Corona who do not have a permanent residence in Tyrol and therefore do not have suitable quarantine options – i.e. mainly tourists. In October 2020, the Alphotel in Innsbruck took over the role of this so-called “safe house” and in July 2021, the Land of Tyrol then rented the club hotel in Götzens. The first lease there expired in April 2022 – after exactly ten months.
But has the tax money used for this actually paid off? List Fritz wants to know this and much more and in the course of an investigation in May last year the state parliament demanded the balance for the first lease. This is now available – and answered by LR Johannes Tratter and LR Annette Leja (both ÖVP).
95,000 euros of tax money spent per month
The ‘Safe House’ cost 946,888 euros between July 2021 and April 2022, or almost 95,000 euros per month (excluding food costs). Of this, EUR 754,463 was made for rental and leasing costs and EUR 181,721 for security services. In addition, according to the contract, there is a fixed daily rate. In 2021 that was 52.5 euros for one accommodated person per day, this year it was 60 euros.
In this period, 412 people were received – the housed persons only appear once in the statistics – among them 307 homeless – also displaced persons from Ukraine -, 105 (!) tourists and none in transit. That is an average of 41 people per month, of which 10.5 (!) tourists.
“Such an accommodation is simply not necessary”
List Fritz club chairman Markus Sint is not satisfied with this cost-benefit calculation: “The ‘safe house’ for tourists suffering from Covid costs a lot and is of little use. The figures prove it: such an accommodation option is not necessary. An average of eleven tourists housed per month does not justify 95,000 euros of tax money per month.” For example, the Tiroler Soziale Diensten GmbH could accommodate homeless people in one of their houses instead of renting a hotel at a high cost.
The black-green state government is throwing away the Tyroleans’ money “as so often in recent years”. Sint: “We need this money much more urgently for our minima, low earners, single parents and large families. They are all having a hard time because of the insanely expensive housing and living in Tyrol, which was the case before the current crisis and is now even more extreme. Small and medium-sized businesses are also badly affected and deserve more support and shelter.”
Contract extended, half a million euros extra
Another detail that the club president heavily criticized: “The lease was not presented to MPs as part of the decision of the state parliament. The state government demanded a general decision without knowledge of the lease, which was irrelevant to all parties except List Fritz. We said no and did not give an overall decision. I was able to access the files and after several attempts I was able to see the lease.”
But anyone who thinks that the ‘safe house’ in Götzens has been suspended is wrong. The ÖVP and the Greens have extended the contract – until November 2022! An additional 550,000 euros (!) of tax money is charged for this – “although this accommodation is a flop. The burning of money continues”, Sint emphasizes. After all, there is now a reduction from 50 to 31 rooms and from 130 to 92 beds.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
