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The mountain of debt is twelve billion francs. And there is something wrong with the administration.
There is a hole of twelve billion Swiss francs in the coffers of the canton of Geneva. That’s how much the city canton has accumulated in debt. The big question in Geneva is therefore: Where can you save?
The Geneva Court of Auditors has now come up with a surprising answer: Above all, Geneva should also collect fines and fees. It’s about up to 250 million francs.
Hardly any danger for defaulting payers
Anyone who does not pay a bill from the canton in Geneva – be it a fine, the fees for a building permit or a driver’s license – will be reminded at different times and at different intervals, as Sophie Forster Carbonnier explains.
Legend:
Geneva has a huge mountain of debt and must quickly provide more income. The Court of Auditors is now proposing to do more to collect outstanding fines and fees.
Keystone/Patrick Aviolate
The official from the Geneva Court of Auditors has prepared a detailed investigation. Conclusion: Other cantons do it better. A total of twelve cantons were analysed, with Bern cited as a positive example. There, reminders are sent from a central location.
No common address database
But in Geneva, each office muddles for itself. There is not even a common database with the addresses, says Forster Carbonnier. “Each body searches for it itself without informing the others of the results.” A time waster.
Each agency searches for the addresses itself without informing the others of the results.
In addition, the authority that knows best where people live – the tax authority – does not share the data. The reason for this is the particularly strict tax secrecy in Geneva. All of this causes a huge loss of income. According to the Geneva Court of Auditors, they should have amounted to CHF 38 million in 2021.
However, it is potentially up to CHF 254 million. Because many payments are pending. And the longer a payment is outstanding, the less likely it is that it will ever be settled, according to the authority.
Collection agency needs to do more
Actually, there is also a central collection agency in Geneva. In the future, this should be switched on after 75 days, instead of after an average of 240 days, as is now the case. In general, only 25 percent of payment defaults actually end up at the point that specializes in collecting money.
The other big change needed in Geneva is transparency between the different areas, says Forster Carbonnnier. The canton of Geneva should know better who owes it money. However, this also requires investments in new IT systems. These must be renewed and harmonized across all areas.
In order to plug the holes in the finances, the highly indebted canton of Geneva also has to raise money.