After the Swiss rejected the extension of the motorways, motorists must receive something in return, because they have contributed to the fund for national roads and urban traffic (FORTA). In any case, this is the opinion of national councilor Thomas Knutti (UDC/BE) who will table a motion in Parliament next week asking the Federal Council to reduce the fuel tax by 10 cents per liter. “The vote is over, now the money is useless. The Confederation should return it immediately to the people,” explains the elected official in the columns of “NZZ am Sonntag”.
Nearly five billion francs were in fact planned in the FORTA fund for the extension of the motorways. Anyone who fills up at the pump today pays around 77 cents in mineral oil tax per liter of gasoline, of which around 10% goes to the FORTA fund. “The prices of gasoline or diesel fluctuate between 1.65 and 1.80 francs. Ten cents is a notable relief for all those who regularly have to refuel,” calculates Thomas Knutti, who fears that the five billion will be diverted to finance rail.
The leadership of the SVP and that of the parliamentary group support the proposal of their Bernese national councilor. The motion, however, comes into direct conflict with the Minister of Transport, Albert Rösti. The latter is worried about seeing the FORTA fund dry up. Fueled by various sources, it receives around 2.7 billion francs each year, of which 250 million comes from the fuel tax. “In the event of an immediate drop in revenue, FORTA would lack money to finance already approved projects,” he said.
