Bern City Council recommends approving the deficit budget for 2025. A minority opposes it.
Coat of arms of Bern with the city in the background. – Keystone
The Finance Committee of the Bern City Council recommends that Parliament approve the deficit-ridden budget for 2025. The budget is expected to result in a loss of around 28 million francs. A minority of the committee wants to reject the estimate.
The majority, however, are of the opinion that the deficit is manageable given the city’s continued growth and the resulting increase in tax revenues. Planned climate measures are urgently needed, as are the high investments in new buildings and renovations to school and sports facilities.
The majority also considers the additional debt associated with the high investments to be necessary, the Commission wrote in a statement on Thursday.
Criticism of the planned job creation
However, the Finance Committee is asking the municipal council to continue to set priorities carefully. The additional costs associated with the investments in terms of depreciation, interest and operating costs should be carefully monitored. The planned expansion of jobs should also be examined and budget requests should be made with caution.
However, the majority of the Commission does not want to give Parliament any concrete savings targets. It simply reminds them that a “prudent and sound fiscal policy” remains appropriate.
A minority of the commission sees things differently. They propose that the municipal council be obliged to implement a savings package for the 2026 budget. In the city of Bern, the municipal and city councils are dominated by the red-green coalition and the bourgeois forces are in the minority.
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