Wettingen has completely renewed the municipal code and the business regulations of the residents’ council. One point in the revised municipal code is particularly striking in the detailed analysis: the suggestion of the municipal council to abolish the mandatory referendum on the budget and on loans that amount to more than four million francs.
That would have meant that these templates would only have to be approved by the residents’ council and would no longer automatically reach the people. The non-partisan support commission, however, cushioned one of the municipal councils’ proposals by recommending that the people at least automatically vote on budgets with tax rate changes when they are due. The executive agreed, which is why it should be specified in the new municipal code.
Why did the local council want to completely abolish the right to have a say for the people first? Community clerk Urs Blickenstorfer explains: «The local council is of the opinion that the local council should be strengthened in its political responsibility. This is the politically and democratically legitimized representation of those entitled to vote. ” The people’s rights are not diminished in any of the municipal council’s proposals, and the right to referendums continues to exist. In addition, you are so much leaner in your decision-making processes and much more efficient.
“The finance commission has to carry out the budget review in a short period of time so that the budget can be approved at the residents’ council meeting in October,” read the summary of the most important changes on the municipality’s website. “This is the only way to hold a referendum before the end of the current year.” The proposal could also save costs. These would amount to around CHF 13,000 per referendum.
Monitoring commission and municipal council disagree
The new municipal code would also mean that the people would no longer be able to automatically vote on loans, such as those on the lower road for eleven million francs. The Monitoring Commission does not agree on this. In her proposal, she hopes that the electorate will continue to be able to automatically express their opinion on loans over four million francs or annual recurring expenses of more than 400,000 francs. The municipal council is sticking to its proposal: “The right to referendums remains. Either the optional referendum will be held or the parliament will submit a decision to a referendum, ”said Blickenstorfer.
The municipal council and the monitoring commission also disagree on the question of the future of the finance and business audit commission. There are currently eight people in the Fiko and seven in the GPK. The municipal council wants to merge these two bodies into a nine-member commission – just as the expanded council office decided in 2018. Today, not all parties are represented in both bodies: “In an even larger commission, the representation of parliament or the parliamentary groups can be better guaranteed,” says Blickenstorfer. The Monitoring Commission, on the other hand, proposes two new variants; but none of them include the amalgamation of Fiko and GPK.
On Tuesday, the local council will give a media briefing on the new local order. The residents’ council will decide on these and the revised business regulations on November 19th. As soon as he approves the submission of the municipal code, the people have the last word in the end.
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