The Grand Council began its debates on the 2023 budget on Thursday, which it accepted to enter into the matter. He decided to pay the annuity to civil servants unconditionally according to the Finance Committee and not the Councilor of State. It should be voted on Friday.
The Geneva Grand Council agreed to discuss the 2023 budget on Thursday followingnoon. If the right castigated the deficit of nearly 500 million and the 488 additional positions provided for in the budget, the left recalled that the needs of the population are constantly increasing. An agreement has been reached between the left – socialists, greens and together on the left – and the MCG to vote for this budget. To be accepted, it must obtain a qualified majority of 51 votes. For the socialist Caroline Marti, it is a question of avoiding the provisional twelfths at all costs.
Note that the deputies refused to return to the agreement negotiated between the State Councilor Nathalie Fontanet and the staff unions. It made the payment of the civil servants’ annuity conditional on the positive result of the 2022 accounts. They decided to pay it unconditionally from January 1, 2023. If the deputies had agreed to reintroduce the agreement, the annuity would have been paid in March .
Lively debates
According to Caroline Marti (S), the rapporteur for the majority, a balance point has been found with this budget which meets the needs of the population. She recalls the context of the end of the covid crisis and the ensuing energy crisis. His fear: that he will not be accepted and that the State will operate for another year with the provisional twelfths. “How to operate on a budget that dates back two years?” she asked, recalling that without a budget, it is not possible to launch medium and long-term projects. This budget will relieve “overdue services, which year following year have seen positions cut”. Services that no longer face, according to the elected socialist.
Yvan Zweifel (PLR) protested once morest the outrageous spending of the canton. “All of Switzerland is tightening its belt, except in the west, where a small number of die-hard Genevans continue to spend,” he mocked. He noted that, according to the latest calculations, the expected deficit amounts to 501 million, or half a billion. The Canton of Geneva is the champion of the exploitation of tax potential, according to him. As for expenditure per inhabitant, it is higher than that of the cantons of Vaud and Zurich. Yvan Zweifel.
The PLR will accept a deficit capped at 302 million, the limit set by the RFFA (corporate tax reform). He will also refuse the indexation of 2.44% which is added to the payment of annuities, which represents a salary increase of 3.44%.
Jacques Blondin from the Center protests once morest the 488 additional positions requested, which represents 700 positions over two years. His group called for the usefulness of these posts to be demonstrated. He recalled that four different budgets were presented to the deputies. The first with a deficit of 419 million, the second in October at 353 million in the light of additional tax receipts, then at 417 million, to which must be added clipping and indexation, making a total of 501 million. The Center will vote for this budget only if their amendments are accepted. Amendments which wish to bring the loss closer to the brake on the deficit admitted by RFFA which is 302 million.
Jean Batou, from Ensemble on the left, assures us that Geneva needs these positions. For the clearing in particular. But also to deal with the social emergency. The needs of the population are exploding. He indicated that the 2022 accounts will be positive according to the latest estimates.
Nathalie Fontanet, the State Councilor in charge of finance, recalled that the vote on the budget is one of the main acts of the Grand Council. The population expects measures to be taken to deal with inflation and energy crises. A budget deficit but necessary, according to the elected, “because we are coming out of a year of provisional twelfth and the needs are greater”.
She recalled that partial indexation would not be fair for the vast majority of invested civil servants who serve the population. She confirmed that the deficit would not be 417 million but 476 million by adding the annuity. An amount further increased by additional charges of 25 million for the clipping law, which will not be voted on by the Grand Council, i.e. a deficit of 501 million in all. “Geneva has the means to cope with this deficit, thanks to additional tax projections of 244 million” noted the Councilor of State.
Annuity paid unconditionally
The Grand Council refused to resume the agreement negotiated between the Council of State and the staff unions. An agreement which made the payment of the annuity of civil servants conditional on positive 2022 accounts. The Finance Committee swept away this condition by deciding to pay it immediately. Nathalie Fontanet, the State Councilor in charge of finance, tried to return to the negotiated agreement, believing that the finance commission had given “a stab in the social partnership”. But the majority of the Grand Council did not follow it and preferred to pay the annuity unconditionally. To this annuity is added an indexation of 2.44%.
The PLR and PDC amendments were all rejected.