“A budget of retreat, regression and recentralization. » The chairman of the public finance committee, André Laignel, vice-president of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), deplores, once again this year, the fate reserved for local authorities in the draft budget for 2024. “The torment of the tourniquet continuessighs Mr. Laignel. At first, it doesn’t hurt too much. Then breathing fails. We are at the stage where the financial breathing space of local authorities is largely stifled. » According to calculations by the socialist mayor of Issoudun (Indre), the loss of resources for the latter is “2.2 billion euros”.
The government has, however, decided to increase the overall operating allocation by 220 million euros. But, according to Mr. Laignel, this only represents a 0.8% increase, when inflation is expected at 5%.
The vice-president of the AMF has made his calculations. On the one hand, there are therefore additional resources (220 million euros in overall operating allocation, 404 million euros for the value added tax compensation fund, etc.). On the other, fewer resources, particularly with regard to the treatment of civil servants or energy prices… Or 737 million euros less, in addition to the cost of inflation.
Added to this are other points of tension. Thus, the compensation for the contribution on the added value of companies (CVAE), which will be gradually eliminated until 2027, is reduced by 700 million euros, denounces André Laignel. ” A hold up “he complains, intended to finance the “green fund”.
“You, not us”
Relations between the executive and local elected officials are therefore experiencing a new bout of fever. Emmanuel Macron’s statements on the property tax on Sunday evening took the mayors in stride. The head of state rejected responsibility for the increase in this tax on the municipalities, seeing ” scandal “ in the fact that elected officials “dare to say it’s the government’s fault”.
Increasingly faced with the hostility of citizens, mayors did not appreciate being thus designated by popular vindictiveness. “Here, we have not increased the property tax, you have increased it by 7.1% in all the municipalities: you, not us”tweeted the environmentalist mayor of Besançon, Anne Vignot. “Controversy created from scratch”denounces the AMF by pointing the finger at its character “unfair”.
In reality, since the 2018 finance law, the property tax base has been indexed to price increases. The mechanism is included in the general tax code and it is INSEE which, each year, notes the level of inflation. It was therefore not the government which voted for the 7.1% revaluation. It was the law that applied. On the other hand, mayors could lower the rate to cancel out this increase. Very few have done so.
You have 7.76% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.