2024-10-11 16:47:00
Five billion euros the leastthis is the hefty bill that no less than 450 local authorities will have to pay, if we are to believe the 2025 finance bill. Objective, reduce France’s debt, which now peaks at 3,228.4 billion euros.
A hot topic which colored the 7th edition of the Urban France Days with a veil of anger and gloom. Because for Johanna Rolland, president of Urban France and Nantes Métropole, this announcement led to a “break of trust” for many elected officials, already constrained by a complex economic, social and security context.
“Our message is clear: we accept neither the method nor the extent of the measures”indicated the president at the opening of the second day of discussions. And to add: “Things were done without us and the scale was set too high to attribute an unfair share to us.”
Investments in the spotlight
The observation is unanimous for elected officials who are preparing to vote on the 2025 budgetary guidelines: a major risk of a drop in investment, at a time when communities are facing a housing crisis, which has already affected a share of their revenues via the reduction in DMTO.
Faced with this “ bitter pill », François Rebsamen, mayor of Dijon, presents an observation: “It is not 5 billion euros of effort that the State expects from us but rather 9 billion euros. With such drains, it is a decline in the net savings of communities which allows us to plan for investments.”
However, as Arnaud Robinet, President of Grand Reims, recalled, “70% of the investment at the national level is made by local authorities and the 450 communities concerned by the requested efforts represent 70% of this 70% of national investment. »
The president of the metropolis of Lyon, Bruno Bernard concludes: “These announcements will lead local authorities to the brink of cessation of payments and the bankruptcy of some of them. We are waiting for the State to come to its senses.”
The concentration on 450 communities also raises questions. Because they also face major challenges: “Two thirds of people in poverty are in our large cities and two thirds of France’s greenhouse gas emissions are in our urban territories » insists the president of Nantes Métropole.
Elected officials who extend their hand, conditionally
Despite strong criticism, local elected officials said they agreed to participate in the effort and called for dialogue. An outstretched hand with, however, a clear condition: reduce the announced envelope by 5 billion euros. Even though many of them denounce “ pay the bill instead of the State » through these measures.
François Rebsamen evokes possible common ground on the condition of lowering the note, which he estimates at 9 billion euros all measures combined, to 3 billion euros. If the councilors agree to participate in the collective effort, everyone must take their part and the State too. Guarantees on this point are also expected.
One avenue has also been put forward: the removal of the cap on the mobility payment which makes it possible to finance public transport and is not taxed at the same rate in all communities since it is limited to 2% for the communities concerned except in Ile-de-France. France where it can reach up to 3.2%, underlines Johanna Rolland. A measure that “ would not cost the State anything ».
Between understanding and a call for collective effort
Minister Catherine Vautrin was eagerly awaited by elected officials. This is especially true since she knows the reality on the ground well. Former president of the urban community of Greater Reims then of the National Agency for Urban Renovation (ANRU) and member of Urban France, she was then appointed Minister of Labor, Health and Solidarity.
A sensitivity that she did not hesitate to share during the closing speech. “I shared the struggles of urban and seated France, as I was last year in Angers, today in another role here in Lyon, I too would have a certain number of comments to make”she admitted in the preamble. Before adding “ entendre ” THE ” ailments » and the concerns of elected officials.
This, without deviating from the line of the Prime Minister who, according to her, “chose truth and courage, a path that we owe to the French because two scourges threaten our country: financial debt and ecological debt.”
Citing the pandemic as an example, the minister calls for solidarity : “When France is in difficulty, everyone mobilizes”, while recognizing the harshness of the method. “ I knew that the government was not going to carry out consultations in the context that you are familiar with. And it happens at the worst time “. And while communities are still “right in the heart of investment projects. »
During her speech, the minister responded to certain points raised such as the thorny issue of CVAE reform. Presented as an indisputable element of recipe, the minister specifies that “ in the version presented to the CFL, this reform is suspended, because we cannot do without the effects that the CVAE will still produce”. Before calling for everyone to participate in the upcoming debate.
« The parliamentary debate must be fueled by amendments, particularly from associations like yours, which I know can be a force for proposals on the measures that deserve to be reviewed or removed. (…)».
And to better conclude: “You talk to me about decentralization, I answer deconcentration and I suggest that we can work together because I remain hopeful that we can re-establish links in order to overcome this discouragement.”
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