To protest against the efforts required of the departments, that of Haute-Marne is putting several of its public buildings up for sale on the Leboncoin.fr site.
Through this publicity stunt, its president, Nicolas Lacroix, intends to denounce the upcoming budget cuts.
A TF1 team went to the site.
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This is an announcement that is surprising. On October 18, the Haute-Marne departmental council put several of its public buildings up for sale on the online sales site “Leboncoin”, including its prefecture, located in Chaumont. Among the residents, some already see themselves there. “I like the facade, but there would be too many tiles to do“, laughs a local resident, in the TF1 news video to see at the top of this article. The court and the gendarmerie could suffer the same fate, like around ten other buildings which belong to the department, but which are used by state services No need to respond to the ad (which is no longer visible on the site), the sale of these public buildings is only symbolic.
This is in reality a communication operation launched by the department to alert people to the critical financial situation of local authorities. “So, where would the project be housed, in the hotel? Must see cost comparison“, jokes a resident on the terrace of a café. If this makes some people laugh, others share their fears. “There are people who are gullible, and who believe it. So, it’s panic. And then there are those who understood that it was a media stunt. At the same time, it worries people a lot. It’s the predicted death of small towns like us, I’m convinced of it“, declares, concerned, the manager.
We must all participate in the effort required to restore public finances, but all at our level and according to our means.
The mayor (Renaissance) of Chaumont, Christine Guillemy
The initiative is supported by the mayor of the town. “We must all participate in the effort required to restore public finances, but all at our level and according to our means. It is certainly not the basic local authorities which are those which cost the most to the State budget“, recalls the mayor (Renaissance) of Chaumont, Christine Guillemy. In her draft budget (new window)the government is asking 5 billion euros in savings from local authorities. The departments estimate that they will have to bear almost half of this effort. The sale of these buildings could theoretically bring in 50 million euros.
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The president (LR) of the Haute-Marne departmental council, Nicolas Lacroix, fears not being able to complete his budget next year. A very real fear. “We will be forced to abandon the territories, to no longer support the municipalities. It is also public procurement that will collapse. We only live on the grants that the State wishes to give us. So, today we are really dependent on the decisions of the State.” underlines the elected official in front of our camera. This is not the first time that the LeBoncoin site has been used to warn about the lack of resources. In May, parents of students in Haute-Savoie put a class in their school up for sale for a symbolic euro to denounce its closure.
