The 2025 draft budget was sent to Parliament for analysis and processing. It has a deficit of 5.3 million francs and planned investments of 32.5 million francs. Given the uncertainties on the financial markets, it does not take into account a possible payment from the Swiss National Bank (SNB). Three external experts also analyzed the Jura financial situation and considered that additional measures to those mentioned in the framework of the 22-26 Balance Plan were not appropriate in the short term. However, they presented the Government with strategic orientations for a vast “redeployment” project in the context of the arrival of Moutier.
The draft budget proposed by the Government to the Jura Parliament required very significant in-depth work. In fact, it was a matter of respecting the debt brake without taking into account possible revenues from payments from the SNB. As a reminder, in the financial plan, they had been estimated at 22 million francs for the year 2025. Numerous efforts had to be continued by all the departments, in terms of operation, but also investments, in order to achieve a planned deficit of 5.3 million francs with investments of 32.5 million. The budget thus respects the cantonal debt brake which requires a degree of self-financing of 80%. It is therefore consistent with the legal mandate given to the Government as part of the process which is now entering its parliamentary phase.
Numerous saving measures
To achieve this result, the Jura Government continued its work on the measures provided for in the 22-26 Balance Plan so that they fully deploy their effects. It also had to resolve to maintain most of the measures taken during the 2024 financial year. Each department, moreover, still made a substantial effort by making sectoral savings allowing additional resources to be released for 2025. Among the measures validated by the Government, include the increase in patient participation in home care, the reduction in resources allocated to road repairs or the end of free services from the educational and professional guidance center for adults. In terms of LaMal subsidies, modifications have been made in the calculation of the single determining income, namely the taking into account of certain payments to professional pensions and elements linked to wealth. A new organization has made it possible to accelerate the catch-up in terms of real estate gains. Furthermore, after negotiations with the unions, the increase granted to employees will be 0.58%. State personnel will also be able to benefit from an additional day of leave thanks to the closure of the administration and schools on June 20, 2025.
All of these measures make it possible to respond to new challenges and to implement the population’s decisions. We can particularly mention the welcome from Moutier as well as the complete realization of the initiative on cheaper plates. Efforts will also be made to adapt the daily boarding price in EMS, to strengthen children and youth policy as well as specialized education. The fight against poverty will also continue in 2025. Resources have also been provided for the Climate Plan, the revitalization of peatlands and for the renovation of the Beucler villa in order to allow Jurassica to develop a museum center. Finally, resources will be allocated to the modernization of the State.
Limited room for maneuver and controlled expenses
The 2025 budget includes 37 million francs of the savings measures planned by the 22-26 Balance Plan and also an additional 17 million to compensate for the absence of payment from the BNS. As a reminder, if the State operates with a budget of just over a billion francs, only budget items totaling 680 million provide room for maneuver. Indeed, certain revenues and expenses are completely linked to federal decisions. In the end, overall, one hundred measures allow savings of 54 million, or more than 8% savings on the amounts for which the canton has a margin. These are therefore significant efforts.
The Government recalls today that the increase in costs is generally under control. Indeed, despite the first expenses linked to the integration of the town of Moutier – an exceptional project in several respects – the annual increase in Jura costs is one of the lowest in intercantonal comparison. It stands at 2.5%. Unfortunately, cantonal revenues do not increase sufficiently to cover this increase, even if modest and mainly due to transfer charges. The challenges therefore remain significant for the coming years, while the Confederation begins a savings program which should also impact cantonal finances.
Propositions des experts
In this context, the Government has mandated a group of external experts composed of the former Neuchâtel State Councilor Jean Studer, the professor of economics and management at HE-Arc Thierry Bregnard and the entrepreneur Pierre-Olivier Chave. They consider that the authorities already have a rich catalog of measures to achieve short-term objectives and that they do not have the legitimacy to replace the Government and Parliament, from which they note the quality of the work already provided. .
The group of experts believes above all that significant action must take place quickly on the overall functioning of Jura institutions. They recommend in particular not to disperse and to begin reforms with a redeployment of municipal structures and a modernization of the steering and management of the State. To develop these two areas of structural changes, they suggest the establishment of a new financial framework that is both more restrictive and more flexible, which includes policy and financial management rules, as well as a reserve of resources to support reforms.
The Government has taken note of this report and shares the strategic orientations proposed by the experts. In particular, it intends to accelerate the modernization of the administration, initiate discussions on a new financial framework as well as launch, with the Jura municipalities, reflection on the administrative and political structures of the canton of Jura. A message will be sent to this effect to Parliament during the first quarter of 2025.
