The municipal council organized a veritable prank concert in March: In rare harmony, the parliamentary groups jointly struck down the severance payments for elected officials that had been recommended as “indecently high”.

The deadline for appeals and referendums for this new ordinance expired on June 20, the city council announced on Wednesday. This means that the “string concert” can come into force on September 1st.

However, Parliament is still not satisfied with this: Even with the new regulation, 34 people will still be able to enjoy “golden parachutes”. In a next step, the group of people will also be restricted. Only city council members should receive a severance payment in the future.

Until the next round of cuts comes into force, not only the city council, but also city officials, the justices of the peace and the presidents of the district school authorities will all receive a “parachute”.

With the new rules from September 1st, the SVP initiative “No more golden parachutes for city councilors and members of the authorities” will actually become obsolete. This initiative also calls for severance payments for resigning or no longer elected officials to be cut. Only recently it came about with over 3000 valid signature formulas.

The municipal council has now met the SVP demands before the initiative comes before the people. So far, however, the party has not wanted to withdraw its proposal.

With the newly adopted regulation, there is a risk that cases of hardship would be defined. This then could still get a “golden parachute” through the back door, so to date the SVP justified its adherence to the initiative.

The last time for red heads was an “indecently high” severance payment in the summer of 2021, when the president of a district school board applied for a headmaster position – of all places in the district that he himself presided over.

Although he voluntarily resigned as president, he received a severance payment of CHF 650,000. Because of public pressure, he ultimately did not take up the post of principal. But he still kept the 650,000 francs.

(sda)