Basel Grand Council Basel Grand Council approves annual accounts with high surplus

The Basel Grand Council approved the 2023 annual accounts on Wednesday with just one vote against. These closed with a surplus of CHF 434 million. A surplus of just CHF 13 million was originally budgeted.

The President of the Grand Council Finance Committee, Joël Thüring (SVP), was pleased that the surplus significantly exceeded the budgeted annual profit. The positive result was mainly due to higher tax revenues from companies, he said.

Finance Director Tanja Soland (SP) wanted the high tax revenue to be seen as a sign that Basel is an attractive business location.

The debate proceeded as expected. In principle, all parliamentary group spokespersons were pleased with the high surplus. However, the conservative parties criticized a lack of spending discipline and pointed out that further tax cuts were appropriate. On the left-green side of the council, it was emphasized that the population could certainly benefit from the high expenditure on public transport, for example.