Promote municipal mergers.

An example: In the canton of Aargau, there are almost 200 autonomous municipalities. Many places flow seamlessly into each other. Infrastructure is shared, but the tax burden is unevenly distributed. Mergers are rare.

Problem

• Every municipality needs its own administration. This leads to higher costs than…: Every municipality needs its own administration. This leads to higher costs than necessary.
• Many administrations cannot find enough specialists to cover their service manda…: Many administrations cannot find enough specialists to cover their service mandate.
• Many municipalities have grown together spatially over the years.: Many municipalities have grown together spatially over the years.
• Newcomers sometimes perceive municipal boundaries as arbitrary.: Newcomers sometimes perceive municipal boundaries as arbitrary.
• The public infrastructure, e.g. train station, is used by several municipalities…: The public infrastructure, e.g. train station, is used by several municipalities but financed by only one municipality.

Solution

• Municipalities are legally obliged to negotiate and bring a merger to a vote wit…: Municipalities are legally obliged to negotiate and bring a merger to a vote within a reasonable period if they seamlessly border each other spatially and the tax rates differ by, for example, more th…
• Municipalities should not be viewed only as financial constructs. A municipality…: Municipalities should not be viewed only as financial constructs. A municipality also has an identity and thus loses an identity in a merger. Why not merge only the administration and remain political…
• I think merging the municipal administration is a good idea. Being politically i…: I think merging the municipal administration is a good idea. Being politically independent is no problem. A MUST is the tax office: individual municipal tax is no problem, but a larger municipality wo…

Benefit

• Synergies in municipal administration: Synergies in municipal administration
• Sufficient skilled workers for municipal administrations: Sufficient skilled workers for municipal administrations
• Same tax rate for everyone living in the same geographic area and using the publ…: Same tax rate for everyone living in the same geographic area and using the public infrastructure together.
• Better coordinated spatial planning.: Better coordinated spatial planning.
• Overall lower taxes needed due to less redundancy in administration.: Overall lower taxes needed due to less redundancy in administration.