the essential
The year 2024 was marked by a surge in price increases. The Ariège department is no exception.
The life of a property owner is not a long, quiet river. The Ariège taxpayers who received their property tax in recent weeks must have seen red. Like the previous year, 2024 was marked by a surge in increases. However, many mayors deny having increased their local taxes… How can this be explained?
Although the municipality did not vote for an increase, the cadastral rental value on which the tax applies has been revalued. Calculated since 2018 on the harmonized consumer price index (HICP), it has made a new leap this year to keep up with inflation. An increase that is still less compared to +7.1% in 2023.
“In 2024, taking into account the value of the HICP observed in November 2023, the revaluation coefficient is set at 1.039, i.e. a flat-rate increase of 3.9% of the calculation base for built and unbuilt properties (excluding business premises). The household waste collection tax is impacted in the same way,” explains the Ministry of Finance. As a reminder, the rental value corresponds to the theoretical annual rent that a built or unbuilt building could produce, if it were rented under normal conditions.
Top 10 municipalities with the highest tax
The Pla
The property tax rate reaches 59.01 % in the municipality of Le Pla.
Lapège
The municipality of Lapège records a built property tax rate of 56.39%.
Mijanes
Its built property tax rate is 56.82%“I saw the property tax this morning on the Internet and I was shocked. I have been mayor for 23 years and I have only increased taxes once. I plan to contact the tax authorities,” responded Christian Dubuc, the mayor of the town.
Tarascon-sur-Ariege
The town of Tarascon-sur-Ariège has a tax rate of 52.46%. “We have not touched our percentage for seven years. On the other hand, the State systematically increases the bases each year, depending on inflation among other things. Consequently, our fellow citizens see an increase. Regarding this hit parade of cities where the tax rate is high, it would be interesting to compare the services that are made available to residents. Unfortunately, these are not always proportional. Here, we have a very large number of services that meet needs and that must be financed. Not to mention that the State has significantly reduced its grants which have penalized the communities”, explains the mayor of Tarascon-sur-Ariège, Alain Sutra.
Whoa
In the commune of Quié, owners are subject to a rate of 51.65%“In the 29 years that I have been elected, we have only increased the property tax once or twice and for the last 10 years, it has not changed. But the bases are rising. The rate for the municipality means nothing,” said Jean-Bernard Fournié, the mayor.
Genat
The municipality of Génat with a property tax rate of 51.15%.
Lercoul
The municipality of Lercoul with a rate of 51.75%. “In the property tax, there is the share of the department, the Region, the State, the community of communes. The strong increase here comes mainly from the merger of the community of communes of Auzat and Vicdessos with that of the communes of the Vallées d’Ax in 2016. It resulted in an abusive adjustment of the rates. The municipal share has been stable since the beginning of my mandate. Not increasing it is already a considerable effort. Lowering it would not bring a significant reduction in the tax and would put us in difficulty”, explains François Lafon, the city councilor.
Orus
The property tax in the municipality of Orus is 50.93%.
Coussa
The tax rate on built property in the commune of Coussa is 50.02%.
And the lowest rates?
Among the municipalities where the rate is the lowest, we find:
Montesquieu-Avantès with 22.45%“With the Municipal Council, we did not want to overload the taxpayer with taxes, especially since we are in a municipality with residents who have a low average income. In addition, it would not bring us anything to increase the property tax by 1 or 2%. It would represent a big increase for our residents without bringing much to the municipality”, recalls the mayor Jocelyne Fort.
