Zurich's lottery fund with additional benefits
In future, money from the Canton of Zurich's lottery fund will be regularly available for cultural and charitable projects in the school sector. A higher contribution from the fund is also planned for less established culture outside the centers. The Government Council is proposing these and other changes to the Cantonal Council.
The Zurich Lottery Fund supports a large number of charitable projects every year. For general contributions of up to 500,000 francs, the cantonal government has the authority to allocate 20 million francs annually for projects with a Zurich connection and 10 million francs for domestic aid and development cooperation; it can apply to the cantonal council for higher amounts. Around 3.3 million francs are also allocated to Zurich Zoo each year.
In addition, the Department of Culture in the Directorate of Justice and Home Affairs and the Directorate of Buildings for the preservation of monuments and archaeology each receive a maximum of CHF 8.5 million per year for operating subsidies and project-related contributions. This corresponds to a decision by the Cantonal Council, which is limited until 2016.
The cantonal government now wants to extend these temporary benefits from the fund and supplement or expand them from the beginning of 2016. For example, the culture department is to receive CHF 14 million instead of the previous CHF 8.5 million; in addition, the lottery fund is to take over a further CHF 9 million of cultural funding that was previously financed by state contributions.
The lottery fund will therefore support the culture department with a total of CHF 23 million in future. The lump-sum contribution for monument preservation and archaeology is to increase to CHF 9.5 million due to registered projects. According to the proposal, the Department of Education will now also participate in the lottery fund with CHF 6 million: This will enable it to support cultural and social projects in the school sector that previously had no chance of receiving state funding.
The additional benefits financed by the lottery fund for the benefit of the population and culture will lead to a reduction in the fund's available capital of currently CHF 250 million. The Government Council is therefore proposing to the Cantonal Council that the new contributions be limited until 2021.
