Used by several million travelers in the Ile-de-France each year, the Navigo pass is currently billed at 75.20 euros per month, excluding reduced rates. This price, Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), organizing authority for transport in the Paris region, threatens to increase it from 2023 to limit its deficit, which is rising due to inflation and the cost of energy. Who finances IDFM, and therefore valid Navigo passes?
Employers, communities and travelers finance Ile-de-France Mobilités
The operating expenses of IDFM (ex-STIF) for the year 2022 will exceed 10 billion euros. Three types of contributors finance the local public institution, in stable proportions over the years: companies, travelers and local authorities.
Employers, public and private, contribute half of the IDFM budget, and therefore indirectly to that of the Navigo pass, via the “mobility payment”. This contribution is paid by all employers with more than ten employees to the Union for the recovery of social security contributions and family allowances (Urssaf), which then transfers it to the authorities organizing transport, i.e. IDFM in Ile-de- France. In the region, the payment rate is between 1.6 and 2.95% of the payroll: the better the workplace is served by transport, the higher the rate applied.
The other half of the funding for the Navigo pass is provided by travelers (38%) and local authorities (12%). The participation of the latter is based on the Ile-de-France region (51%), the City of Paris (30%) and the seven departments of the region (19%).
IDFM’s accounts are in deficit
For several months, Valérie Pécresse, president of the Ile-de-France region and of IDFM, has been warning about the state of the company’s finances. Its services anticipate a structural deficit of nearly 950 million euros in 2023. In question: a drop in attendance, estimated at 85% of the level recorded before the Covid-19 epidemic, and the explosion of costs following the inflation and rising energy prices.
To date, IDFM says it has found 300 of the missing 950 million euros. An amendment to the contract linking the public authority to the SNCF, which shares part of the Parisian network with the management, would save 100 million. IDFM also plans to reduce its allocation to RATP by 100 million euros for 2022 as part of penalties imposed on the management for not having honored the entire contract binding the two entities. In addition, 100 million euros would be contributed by the communities – region, City of Paris and departments –, which would have accepted a 7.5% increase in their annual contribution.
650 million euros therefore remain to be found to complete the 2023 budget. According to the IDFM funding distribution key, two variables can increase revenue: the amount of the mobility payment imposed on companies and the tariffs imposed on users.
The price of the Navigo pass could increase
In a report drawn up for its next board meeting, convened on December 7, IDFM favors, in the absence of direct State aid, a “effort shared by all funders”, up to 7.5% of their usual contribution, as accepted by the local authorities. On the passenger side, this ” effort “ would lead to an increase in the price of the Navigo pass in 2023, from 75.20 to 80.80 euros. This limited increase in the subscription is however conditional on at least a similar increase in the mobility payment for companies.
Only Parliament could now modulate employers’ contribution to IDFM, within the framework of discussions on the 2023 finance bill. however, for the moment, to consider it… just like the parliamentarians: the senators rejected, on November 23, an amendment proposing an increase in the mobility payment. The Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune, also said he was against this amendment, considering that it would be contradictory with the government’s objective of “lower taxation on companies, especially industrial ones”. This is a dead end, according to IDFM, for whom the situation would then impose a higher price than expected for the Navigo pass for users.
“The time is serious, because despite all my attempts to obtain new revenue from the State, the blocking of the government is paving the way for a Navigo pass at 90 eurosbelieves Valérie Précesse, in a letter sent on November 25 to the administrators of IDFM. This would be socially unacceptable. » Increase by 15 euros per month the subscription to Ile-de-France transport? “It’s not the right time because the French are facing inflation”repeated Olivier Véran, on France Inter, Monday, November 28. The government spokesman ensures that he is continuing discussions with the services of the region to “study ways to avoid such a significant increase”.