Corona demos in Steyr cost the taxpayers millions

The reactions to the latest OÖN report on the noise terror of the so-called walkers, which lasted until the end of 2025 and take the Steyrers hostage at their Corona demos every Sunday, were numerous, sometimes gruff and violent.

The costs that taxpayers have to bear for these beer-laden moves, which for many also destroy democracy, are also low and heavy. According to Steyr’s city police commander Christian Moser, around 60 officers were again on duty this Sunday to guard the walk of around 500 opponents of vaccination and the government, which has now been announced. Calculated conservatively, around 15 police service vehicles were also in use.

26 euros per half hour

If, for example, it were a game by Vorwarts Steyr that required the presence of the police, the club would have to bear most of these costs. This is different for walkers. The public pays a high price for guarding them. According to the Security Police Act, there are 26 euros per hour per police officer on Sundays, plus an additional 13 euros per vehicle. “The real costs are of course significantly higher, depending on the seniority of the civil servant,” says Moser. It would also be possible to compensate for these operations not with overtime but with time off, but then the Steyr police would long since run out of staff on weekdays.

Here, however, only the fees according to the Security Police Act should be expected. Just the use of this Sunday walk, before which MFG presidential candidate Michael Brunner was also allowed to use the “Schwurbler” stage for his crude theories, would cost around 9,000 euros.

A maximum of 70 police officers on duty

According to Moser, the maximum number of police forces during the now 80 walks was 70. Last summer, with only around 40 demonstrators straying, only four officials were the lowest number. If you now calculate an average of around 40 emergency services with the corresponding number of vehicles, then around 750,000 tax euros have already been spent on the Corona demos in Steyr.

However, it gets really expensive when you look at the next three and a half years: The costs for the walks registered until December 2025 would therefore amount to around 1.6 million euros.