Canton of Zurich – Twice yes: municipalities receive more money from Canton – News

• The people of Zurich want to relieve communities of high social costs. With almost 62 percent you say yes to a change that makes the canton more responsible.
• The federal government and the cantons are now paying 70 percent of the additional benefits for AHV and IV recipients. So far it has only been 44 percent. The communities had to do the rest themselves.
• The highway law is also accepted with a yes of a good 55 percent. This means that the municipalities receive 90 million from the cantonal road fund for their roads.

In the canton of Zurich, municipalities had to pay 56 percent of the additional benefits. It is still 30 percent new, so you will be greatly relieved. In this way the objective of the template has been achieved. He wanted to relieve those communities that have high social costs through no fault of their own due to their social structure, like Winterthur, Dietikon or Schlieren.

Joy for the followers

“An approval of more than 60 percent, which confirms that the commitment of the communities also benefits the population”, says Jörg Kündig, president of all the mayor of Zurich. The turnout was around 55 percent.

Rapahel Golta, social director of the Zurich City Council, is “extremely happy” about the positive result of the vote, as he says in an initial statement. The municipalities involved had fought hard for six years and had tried to influence cantonal policy so that the additional benefits were better funded, and now significant success had been achieved.

The city of Zurich would still bear a sizable chunk of the costs, Golta said. “We do not have the same balance as other communities. However, the vote is an important signal, because social policy is not just a problem for cities, it concerns everyone.

Thomas Forrer, President of the Greens in the Zurich Cantonal Council, is pleased to say that the differences that would have existed between municipalities in terms of social spending would now be minimized. It is an important yes because now you have a fairer balance.

Additional costs for the canton

The canton of Zurich will now face additional costs of around 200 million Swiss francs a year, in terms of redistribution of social costs alone. The SVP had held the referendum against the decision of the Cantonal Council and therefore gave the people the last word. In a first statement, the senior vice president is disappointed.

“This is bad for the canton of Zurich,” says SVP canton president Benjamin Fischer. Now the canton’s budget is being looted. It will run a deficit of 1.6 billion Swiss francs over the next four years, with the consequences: “That needs a drastic austerity program or a tax increase.” The SVP will defend itself against the latter.

Are you saving on investments now?

CFO Ernst Stocker doesn’t choose such dramatic words, although defeat hurts him too, as he puts it. Especially since both templates were accepted and cost the canton a lot of money. The additional 250 million francs that the canton is supposed to spend annually is a challenge, “but you are chosen to accept it.”

Now the question arises where the money should come from. It is not that simple, because the canton of Zurich is growing, the canton is already paying more to the municipalities for the latest tax proposal and Corona is also taking its toll. So Stocker is considering saving on investments: “With all the building stock in the canton, do you have to delay anything? Or in traffic, put a new tram line back, etc. Ernst Stocker, on the other hand, rules out a tax increase.

Yes to the road law

In the second presentation, cantonal funds will also be distributed to municipalities, this time for municipal roads.

Yes to the amended highway law

The Zürich electorate has also decided that the municipalities will receive new money from the canton for the maintenance of their streets. To this end, 90 million francs are allocated annually from the cantonal road fund. Until now municipalities have financed their roads entirely with taxpayer money.

Green left parties are convinced that this past practice contradicts the polluter pays principle. Therefore, they supported the new template. The bourgeois cantonal parties are against it. Among other things, they warned that implementation would foster bureaucracy.