Old-age provision Aargau municipalities to continue to operate AHV branch offices

In the canton of Aargau, the municipal branch offices for questions about AHV and supplementary benefits are to be retained. After heavy criticism during the consultation, the cantonal government has decided not to abolish the contact points in the 198 municipalities.

In future, the municipalities will have to bear the costs for the branch offices themselves, totaling CHF 290,000 per year, as the cantonal government wrote in its message to the Grand Council.

This procedure is in line with the cantonal law on the impact-oriented management of tasks and finances (GAF). According to this law, the municipality responsible for the execution of a task should bear the costs. Previously, the costs were paid directly by the AHV.

The government council wanted to abolish the municipal branches over the next five years. The insured persons would now be able to contact the compensation offices directly and they could also do so digitally.

The federal government had abolished the obligation for cantonal compensation offices to run communal branches. It left it up to the cantons to create a legal basis for the communal branches if necessary.

Help and information

Specifically, the government council, in consultation with the Association of Aargau Municipal Social Services, proposes that the branches continue to provide information and assistance. They should also forward notifications, inquiries and applications and support people in completing an application.

The continuation of the municipal branch offices is to be anchored in the cantonal introductory law to the federal laws on old-age and survivors' insurance and disability insurance.

Following deliberations in the Grand Council, this introductory law, which primarily deals with the SVA Aargau, an independent institution under public law, is expected to come into force in December 2025.

SDA