Bellinzona and Lugano budget deficits for 2027

The 2027 budgets of Ticino's main cities confirm a worsening financial situation. Bellinzona has budgeted a deficit of over 10 million francs, while Lugano's is close to 15 million. Neither city sees signs of improvement in the short term.

"I margini di manovra per risparmiare? Penso che tutti quelli che hanno tentato di fare i compiti nel passato avevano già trovato dove risparmiare. Non ce ne sono più tanti, di margini, e quindi la questione sta diventando piuttosto preoccupante" (en: "Room to save? I think everyone who tried to do their homework in the past had already found where to save. There isn't much room left, so the issue is becoming rather worrying"), says Lugano's mayor Michele Foletti, interviewed by RSI's Quotidiano.

The picture is similar in Bellinzona. Finance department head Fabio Käppeli notes that the Canton's own finances, themselves under strain, give no hope of a reduction in the burdens passed on to municipalities — if anything, an increase. This makes a medium-term return to budget balance even harder. Käppeli also quantifies the remaining room for manoeuvre: "Su dieci franchi di spesa, possiamo intervenire liberamente su al massimo 1 o 2 franchi, mentre il resto è vincolato da decisioni o norme di carattere superiore" (en: "Out of every ten francs of spending, we can freely act on at most 1 or 2 francs, while the rest is bound by decisions or rules from a higher level").

Among the items weighing most heavily on municipal budgets are new tasks imposed by federal and cantonal laws, such as those related to fire prevention and data protection, which require hiring additional staff to carry out decisions made at another institutional level.

More autonomy to avoid duplication

According to the Association of Ticino Municipalities, many of these problems have been known for years and have never been addressed at their root. President Felice Dafond warns that without corrective measures, the finances of all Ticino municipalities will deteriorate significantly.

Among the proposals put forward by the municipalities is matching the increase in burdens with greater decision-making autonomy. The goal is to avoid having the same local task carried out in parallel by both the Canton and the municipality, which duplicates structures and costs that ultimately fall on residents. It remains to be seen whether the Canton, itself facing a deterioration in its own accounts, will be willing to give up some control over these areas in exchange for more efficient municipal management.