Facts
The City of Zurich is the owner of an office building with a retail store that partially extends over the Limmat River. In 2009, the Building Directorate of the Canton of Zurich renewed the temporary water law concession for the use of the public water area by this building and set the annual usage fee at CHF 172,368. The City of Zurich filed an appeal against the amount of the fee, which was reduced to CHF 141,183 by the Administrative Court of the Canton of Zurich. The City of Zurich then filed an appeal in public law matters with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court states that the concession fee must comply with the constitutional principle of equivalence. The calculation of the fee according to the formula in the Fee Ordinance of the Canton of Zurich leads to an excessive charge in the present case, as it does not sufficiently take into account the specific circumstances of the use. In particular, it must be considered that the building only comprises a ground floor and one upper floor, and thus allows for significantly less use than the values used for the calculation for commercial buildings in the city center. The Federal Supreme Court sets aside the decision of the lower instance and remands the case to the Building…