Click on image to view larger. Bottom shows income in CHF1,000s, with number of taxpayers shown in blue columns (Source: Swiss Federal Tax Office, 26.02.2010)
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss Federal Department of Finance Friday 26 February published data that could well distract many Swiss away from the current debates on banking secrecy: a commune-by-commune map of taxable income. It is part of a larger set of maps that list minimum, median and maximum taxable income for 2006 and 2003, with a comparison to 1995-96, and more, to show how changing demographics affect revenue.
The maps may be designed to show how income is spread in the country, to better help politicians, but they make fascinating reading for anyone who wonders why the price of housing in the area around Nyon has skyrocketed in the past 10 years, for example.
The answer: a housing shortage, of course, but also a population whose income as a whole has shot up.
A few of your neighbouring villages’ average incomes:
Geneva, with the city itself having an average income of CHF68,000 -
- Vandoeuvres, with CHF190,164 on average beats out Collonges-Bellevue by nearly CHF30,000
- around Lake Geneva and out among the vineyards, Cartigny and Aire-la-ville are comfortable with CHF105,000 approximately
- Genthod is not for the poor, with an average of nearly CHF224,000
Nyon area
- Incomes in town are not the highest, averaging out to CHF73,000 (but Morges, a similar size, is CHF63,000)
- nearby towns have wealthier residents: CHF126,000 for Céligny, CHF110,000 for Trélex, CHF118,000 for Givrins, CHF116,000 for Genolier.
Lausanne, with the city itself having an average income of CHF60,000 -
- Pully, Grandvaux and Lutry are all over CHF85,000
- On the other side, towards Morges, quiet Denens is CHF99,000 and Vufflens-le-Chateau CHF135,000 and truly quiet Montricher up the hill is CHF144,000.
The towns with the highest numbers often prove to have the greatest spread between high and low earners.
First the cantons vote to ban smoking, now the anti-ban groups want to vote on new federal law
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland adopts a country-wide no smoking ban in May, but opponents are not taking the change in stride. A group defending the cafes and restaurants, the Légitime défense des cafés romands en péril Association, 3 February delivered a petition with 80,000 signatures, from French-speaking cantons, to the Chancellery in Bern, demanding a new vote. Theirs joins a similar petition from German-speaking cantons, delivered to Bern in December, with 64,000 signatures.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss National Bank expects to see a “large profit” of CHF10 billion for 2009, thanks to the rapid rise in the price of gold and currency fluctuations during the year. The valuation of the gold holdings of the central bank rose by CHF7.3 billion during the year, with the price of gold moving between about $800 and $1,200 an ounce (chart).
The bank’s foreign currency positions brought in another CHF2b.
The profits are shared in part with the federal and cantonal governments, some CHF2.5b.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Chinese Embassy in Bern 18 December warned the Swiss government over offers to take two brothers, inmates at the US Guantanamo centre in Cuba, but Bern says it was already clear that China was not happy, and the diplomatic issues were already under review. The Chinese warning surfaced in Swiss media this week when Le Matin Thursday published the story, later confirmed by the Swiss Police and Justice (SPJ) office.
The warning letter in fact came at a time of some confusion over Swiss offers to take Guantanamo detainees, the SPJ ministry has told media. One canton, Geneva, has to date officially offered, with federal government support, to take one inmate, an Ouzbek man.
Update 2, 22:45 Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Years of arguing and debate over the need for the Lake Geneva region to rapidly develop its train service were brought to a close Monday 21 December with a framework agreement signed by the federal and cantonal governments and the CFF rail company. The agreement acknowledges that the Geneva-Lausanne area is one of the fastest-growing in Switzerland and states the intent of the signing parties to develop a rail network and service that match the rapidly changing need for public transport in the area.
Third and possibly fourth rail line planned
The two cantons have agreed to put up CHF312 million in pre-financing for several projects, designed to speed up the project. The 20-year plan, to 2030, will increase the frequency of trains to one every 15 minutes between Lausanne and Geneva. The number of seats will double by 2020. Several congestion points are targeted: Mies in Vaud and Chambésy in Geneva plus the freight passing line between Nyon and Coppet. The three-phase plan calls for the main lines and RER regional system to be improved first, then the third rail line between Renens and Allaman to be built during a second phase, when the system will also be extended in the area west of Geneva. Main train stations will be modernized.
The third phase will involve building a fourth rail line and improving public transport access to Geneva’s airport.
Shared Internet news ok, but not on radio and TV
Geneva / Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The merger of TSR, public television in French-speaking Switzerland, and RSR, public radio, is meeting some resistance from cantonal governments, which insist the two editorial teams must remain separate and independent. Vaud and Geneva, in a joint statement released Monday 23 November, say they would also like to see the traditional roles maintained of Lausanne as a radio centre and Geneva as a television centre. The statement was made in advance of today’s presentation of the merger project to the board of SSR, the parent company.
Home, sweet (green?) home, Carouge, Geneva
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Homeowners grabbed at the chance to get energy certificates at a bargain rate, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) says, with 15,000 energy certificates sold in only three weeks following the announcement that a certificate and annexed expert report would cost only CHF200 instead of the usual CHF1,200. The cantonal building energy certificate (CECB) establishes the energy efficiency of a building and is useful as a guide to current and future energy use.
Lausanne 2009 - down to Earth and back to the books soon
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Canton Bern has decided to coordinate school vacations so they will in future be the same for children in German-speaking and French-speaking communes: this week the German-speakers started back to school and next week the French-speakers return. The decision about school holidays has until now been the perogative of the communes, rather than the canton. The cantonal education minister says the request for change comes from parents, who sometimes have children in more than one commune and who can’t coordinate family vacations.
That still leaves the problem of coordinating two-canton vacations for families with children in Geneva and Vaud, for example, particularly if they have children in private schools, where residence is less of an issue but cantonal public school calendars are sometimes observed.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A controversial study scheduled for publication in the Journal of Public Economics shows that Geneva could reduce its taxes by 48% and Vaud by 27% without cutting any services Le Matin Dimanche reports. Ed. note: the working paper, published in April 2008, is available online in English.
