Act on the Granting of Contributions to the State Churches - Principle

1. The State provides an annual contribution of CHF 3,700,000.00 to the state churches for ecclesiastical purposes. This amount corresponds to the level of the national consumer price index as of November 2014 and is adjusted annually according to the development of this index.

2. This benefit is partly based on historical legal titles.

1. The contribution mentioned under Art. 1 shall be distributed among the regional churches as follows

a) Evangelical-Reformed Regional Church: 75.5%

b) Roman Catholic Regional Church: 22.0%

c) Old Catholic Parish of Schaffhausen and Surroundings: 2.5%

1bis. The government council is authorized to adjust the distribution formula according to paragraph 1 as soon as a significant change in the membership ratio among the regional churches necessitates it. The regional churches shall be consulted beforehand.

2. The regional churches determine the use of the state contribution.

1. The pastoral care in the cantonal hospital, within the cantonal psychiatric clinic Breitenau and in the nursing home for the chronically ill, as well as the prison chaplaincy, is the responsibility of the national churches. The costs are borne by the national churches.

1. The cantonal church and school fund is transferred to the general state assets.

2. The obligations of the state based on historical legal titles remain preserved.

1. The responsibility for the pension fund of the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Schaffhausen transfers from the canton to the Evangelical Reformed Church upon the enactment of this law.

2. The government council may grant the pension fund of the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Schaffhausen the legal status of an independent institution under public law.

3. If an independent institution under public law is established, the organization of the fund is subject to the approval of the government council. In cases of disputes regarding benefits from such a fund, the claimants are entitled to file a lawsuit with the Superior Court. The proceedings before the Superior Court are, by analogy, governed by the decree on the insurance court in social health and accident insurance.

1. This law shall enter into force upon approval by the people, as enacted by the Executive Council. It shall be published in the Official Gazette and included in the cantonal legislative collection.

2. Upon its entry into force, all provisions contrary to this law shall be repealed, specifically the Law concerning the Salaries of Clergy of the Public Church Corporations of the Canton of Schaffhausen and the Redemption of Pastoral Salary Contributions of July 15, 1907; the Decree of the Grand Council of the Canton of Schaffhausen on the Employment Relationship of State-Paid Pastors of the Evangelical-Reformed Church Parishes of the Canton of Schaffhausen, the Roman Catholic Church Parish in Ramsen, and the Old Catholic Church Parish of Schaffhausen and Surroundings (Pastoral Salary Decree) of February 15, 1971; as well as the Decree of the Grand Council of the Canton of Schaffhausen on the Pension Fund of the Evangelical-Reformed Church of the Canton of Schaffhausen of October 18, 1965.