“The gendarmerie is postponing the payment of certain rents due to financial difficulties”, headlined “Le Parisien”, Tuesday October 8. We learn that several barracks have had to suspend the payment of their rents due to cash flow problems attributed in particular to the Olympics and the large deployment of gendarmes in New Caledonia. This is the case in some municipalities in Libourne, even if it is difficult to measure the extent as the owners are different: municipalities, intermunicipalities, Department, State and sometimes even social landlords.
No worries
“Only lessors whose cash flow is able to support these delays are concerned,” the Ministry of the Interior reportedly explained. This is not the case in Libourne where Gironde Habitat, owner of the Libourne gendarmerie company barracks inaugurated in August 2023, is not showing any delay. “To date, we have no outstanding payments and no information and/or letter informing us of non-payment of upcoming installments,” indicates the lessor.
On the other hand, the commune of Saint-Émilion and the Community of Communes (CdC) Castillon-Pujols, owner of the Grézillac brigade, are expecting rents.
In the medieval city, the gendarmes rent the barracks and some municipal housing. For the moment, 7,000 euros in rent is due. “It’s one or two months late but I don’t see anything catastrophic in it. I will have concerns if this continues. We will see more clearly at the start of the year,” indicates Joëlle Manuel, first deputy of Saint-Émilion.
In Grézillac, a barracks and nine housing units are affected. Amount of debt: 54,000 euros, or two quarters. “We noticed this a month ago without worrying because cash flow delays are common. There, we discover above all that it is linked to instructions,” says Samuel Coustillas, of the CdC Castillon-Pujols. Following this discovery, a letter to the prefect’s address was prepared, “indicating that this weakens our finances, that it will not allow us to carry out rigorous maintenance and that it could compromise the proper functioning of the equipment.” For his part, Bruno Retailleau, the Minister of the Interior, assured that in December, “everything would be back to normal”.
