Ahead of the metropolitan council which was held this Tuesday evening, around forty elected officialsmainly in the metropolitan area of Rouen (Seine-Maritime) were gathered in front of the prefecture to denounce the draft budget carried by the government and the five billion euros of efforts requested from local authorities. They hung symbolically their tricolor scarves at the gates of the prefecture in protest.
This Tuesday, the deputies rejected the amended text in the National Assembly in recent weeks, so it is the government's initial text which is now going to the Senate and which therefore provides for these cuts which will burden community budgets. “It's unfair to put this on the communities who are not responsible for this state deficit.” underlines the president of the metropolis and mayor of Rouen, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol. He did the accounts, the metropolis would lose more than 18 million euros from the State out of an overall budget of one billion euros per year .
Bénédicte Robin
“We wanted to extend free public transport, we will not be able to do that“regrets, for example, Nicolas Rouly, vice-president of the metropolis in charge of finances and mayor of Grand-Quevilly.”This is less purchasing power for residents“, underlines the elected official. And in the end it is the concern also shared by Charlotte Goujon, that investment projects cannot see the light of day. Mayor Petit-Quevilly takes the example of the urban renewal project for the swimming pool district in her city which could be called into question by “the announced reduction of the green fund. We are expecting several million euros, particularly for the construction of a school complex and the renovation of a shopping center.“.
And it is not only the largest and strongest communities, contrary to what the government says, which will be involved because “it’s an ecosystem, we all work together with the metropolis, the department, the region” insists Vincent Decorde, municipal councilor in Roncherolles-sur-le-Vivier, 1,200 inhabitants east of Rouen. He takes the example of the revegetation of the schoolyard in his town. A project which could have been led “thanks to subsidies from the department and the metropolis, without which we cannot do” he says.
Added to this concern about seeing finances dry up is uncertainty about the extent of the efforts required since the budget is still under discussion. Communities also have theirs to complete. Some are setting their sights on the end of the year, like the metropolis of Rouen, but on paper they have until the end of March to do so.
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