Finances Bernese city accounts cause dispute in city council despite surplus
The City of Bern's 2023 accounts are under wraps. The City Council approved them on Thursday by 53 votes to 15. Despite a surplus of eleven million francs, enthusiasm was limited.
27.06.2024, 16:38
SDA
The no votes came from the FDP, the SVP and the center. The centre-right camp once again voiced fundamental criticism of the red-green government's financial policy.
On behalf of the FDP/JF parliamentary group, Florence Pärli denounced the rapid increase in new debt in particular. The mountain of debt would soon reach the level of the late 1990s. At that time, the city no longer had any financial flexibility and the canton had to intervene.
Now there is a renewed risk that the city's population will no longer be able to shape its own city. Bern has a spending problem, and expenditure should be reduced by five to ten percent.
The Green Liberals also voiced criticism. The development was not sustainable, said Maurice Lindgren. The nonchalance with which the left-wing majority accepts this is alarming. Even the municipal council, which has a duty to all city residents, does not seem to have a problem with the pace of new borrowing.
"No reason to panic"
The SP and the Green Alliance warned against panic-mongering. Ursina Anderegg (GB/JA) said that the canton's gross debt ratio of 130 percent was an average value.
The mountain of debt was large and growing. But the city could afford this, as it had equity and room to maneuver. In addition, the bow wave of investments will flatten out again in the next few years.
The debt is a consequence of investment activity, said Johannes Wartenweiler (SP/Juso). There is therefore an equivalent value. It was important to ensure that interest rates did not place an excessive burden on the city. But the extent is manageable, the debt "will not break our necks in the next few years".
Mostly in the black
Finance Director Michael Aebersold (SP) defended the financial policy of his eight-year term of office, which comes to an end in December. Under his aegis, the city has closed five accounts in the black and only two in the red. The bottom line was a plus of 82 million francs.
The high investment requirement is also due to the fact that the city invested very little between 2009 and 2016, an average of 83 million francs per year. Debts were reduced and simply not restructured. The pent-up demand is now correspondingly high. In the current legislative period, 138 million francs will be invested annually.
However, the city's financial situation should be put into perspective, said Aebersold. "We are not in the poorhouse. We have to make sure we have it under control, but we're not doing too badly."
The 2023 accounts presented at the beginning of April show a surplus of 11.1 million francs. A loss of over 35 million francs was budgeted.
