The president of the city council of Schaffhausen has taken her colleagues to task over their use of public finances for unnecessary expenses. A group of politicians from the Swiss city were reported to have ordered 60 glasses of schnapps, which they then charged to taxpayers.
When filling out your Swiss tax return, you’d hope that your hard-earned salary was going towards public works like social security, roads and public transport. Unfortunately, according to 20 minuten, some politicians in the city of Schaffhausen have not been using the public purse responsibly.
This was exemplified when members of the council in Schaffhausen went on a boozy trip on September 27. As part of the important state business, the group ordered a total of 60 glasses of schnapps.
Despite being given “clear instructions to the contrary”, instead of paying for the booze out of their own pocket, they instead chose to write it off as a state expense. According to 20 minuten, the incident caused much disquiet among other members of the Schaffhausen council, who saw it as a highly inappropriate use of Swiss taxes.
"Unfortunately, there is a small drop of bitterness,” joked Schaffhausen Council President Nathalie Zumstein. She said the incident was not trivial and was a sign of "indecent arrogance towards the taxpayer". However, her comments may have fallen on deaf ears, as the subsequent speaker described the incident as a “nice trip with good weather”, according to 20 minuten.