Cantonal director of finance Peter Hegglin seeks new challenge

Peter Hegglin has been the cantonal director of finance for 13 years, not to mention acting as president of the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Directors of Finance since 2013. Now he is looking to a new challenge and hopes to be elected as a member of the Council of States in Bern, the smaller of the two parliamentary chambers there.
 
In a recent article the 54-year-old outlined with a journalist of the Neue Zuger Zeitung what he would like to achieve there (as in the case of recent articles about Bruno Pazzetti and Gerhard Pfister, what follows here is a much abridged and simplified version).
 
Initially he was asked about the criticism he faced because of the current high level of deficit in the canton. He first explained that when he took over as director of finance the situation was not easy, though there followed years when a surplus was able to be recorded. “I made it my duty to ensure that, during this time, we built up large reserves, and these now amount to over CHF 1 billion. Now the tables have turned and, albeit somewhat later than elsewhere, we, too, are noticing the effects of the economic and financial crisis. At present our income is stagnating around the level of what it was in 2011. This has led us to consider what we can and cannot afford, and we also have to consider the high contribution we make to the National Equalisation Fund.”
 
When asked if he thought cuts would work or whether levels of tax should rise, Hegglin said that the cuts would surely have their effects, but the tax threshold was there as a valve for the canton’s income to be regulated in an uncomplicated way. “Bearing in mind the quality of what the canton delivers and the high priority we give to child and social welfare, this is something which cannot be excluded; and, after all, we are the canton which levies the lowest tax on individuals in the whole country.”
 
The journalist put it to Edlibach-resident Hegglin that, with regard to the NFA, he was far too understanding (of the cantons which benefit from it), rather than supporting Zug’s case more. In his response, Hegglin, who enjoys a reputation of being the gentleman of politics in the canton, said there was no use going about things with all guns blazing. The best way to find a solution was by arguing in a calm, factual, considered way.
 
As to possibly representing Zug in Bern, Hegglin said that, as a member of the Zug government, he had always tried to formulate policy in such a way that a majority vote would ensue, and this had always worked out, with one exception. If elected, he would pursue the same tactics in the Council of States, always on the look-out for long-lasting, acceptable solutions to complex problems.
 
In reference to his training as an agriculturist, Hegglin was then asked if he would lobby for farmers in parliament in Bern. “No,” he said with a smile, “though naturally with my upbringing I feel an affinity with them. As a young farmer myself I always felt more like a businessman than someone who benefited from high subsidies. These days, agricultural matters have slipped more into the background, though I still keep bees.”
 
As to what concerned him most at present, the director said a number of financial and political issues, not least further amendments to corporation tax and other fiscal matters.
 
Not that cautious Hegglin was assuming his election to the Council of States was already a foregone conclusion. “Let us not forget a sportsman can still trip up and lose even when he on a level straight stretch; and it is the same in politics,” he said.