“We are very bad financially,” admits the mayor

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“We are experiencing a drop in state funding that we have never experienced before.” On the sidelines of a press conference entitled “10 years of progress for culture”Jean-Luc Moudenc returned to the complicated situation in which local authorities find themselves due to the drastic drop in credits allocated by the State.

70 million revenue losses in 1^is January 2025

According to current estimates, the financial impact that could hit Toulouse Métropole and Toulouse town hall as part of the project finance law 2025will be far from neutral.

« Au 1^is January 2025, we will suffer a loss of revenue estimated at 45 million euros for Toulouse Métropole, and 25 million euros at the town hall of Toulouse”, underlined the mayor (DVD) of Toulouse, Thursday November 14, 2024. A shortfall of 70 million euros which will inevitably have painful consequences.

“The State's cut is 20% of our operating expenses”

“45 million euros to the Metropolis,” continues Jean-Luc Moudenc, “this represents roughly the entirety of the savings that disappear. However, savings are used in particular to finance investment. This would therefore mean renouncing investment… And financing all investments through borrowing is prohibited by law, so it is not possible.”

To maintain room for maneuver to invest, the community is therefore preparing to cut back on the operating budget. “When I look at the budgetary structure, I realize that the state's cut represents 20% of our operating expenses, which are by far the most important.” This sudden drop therefore implies “reducing our operating budget by 20%, which is enormous in a very short time,” underlined Jean-Luc Moudenc.

“An extremely short time”

“In 2014, we had already suffered a drop in allocations which led us to make difficult decisions in terms of taxation and to reduce the subsidies allocated to associations by 25%, smoothing this reduction over the entire mandate. Compared to 2014, the announced shock, in terms of financial volumes, is three times greater in 2025. In 2014, when the Prime Minister at the time, Manuel Valls, announced a reduction in allocations, it was in April . So we had nine months to prepare. There, we have nine weeks since we vote on the budget before the end of the year. It's extremely short! We are therefore all (all local authorities, editor’s note) in an extremely difficult situation,” analyzes Jean-Luc Moudenc.

What solutions?

So, how can we still make savings within the two communities chaired by Jean-Luc Moudenc?

“I have already announced a hiring freeze, but we know very well that it is a measure of principle that we cannot always systematize. We are going to inaugurate a new school at La Cartoucherie in 2025, but it will obviously not be able to function without Atsem and without technical agents,” adds the mayor of Toulouse who had indicated during the last metropolitan council his wish to do not increase local taxes.

” We are very bad financiallycontinues Jean-Luc Moudenc, and I announced a working method to my services. Because today, we are completely unable to know where we are going to be able to make savings. What is certain is that I do not want no systematic planing. The administration is in the process of analyzing essential expenses (on which it is impossible to cut corners, editor's note), and it is in the process of identifying where there may be flexibility.”

Once this internal study has been carried out, a document “will be given to all elected officials and there will be work which will have to last three months”, to “take the time to look at the situation of each association and to identify priorities“, launched the tenant of the Capitol, who has already announced his wish to run again in 2026.

“Safeguarded” sectors

“There are budgetary sectors which will be protected“, also specified Jean-Luc Moudenc. “The Metropolis pays 400 million euros to municipalities each year. We won't touch it! The mobility budget and the contribution to Tisséo (which will gradually increase from 100 million euros to 195 million euros by 2028, in order to finance line C of the metro, editor's note) will also be protected. And we are not going to reduce the financial contribution dedicated to Sdis either, because the firefighters ensure our safety on a daily basis.”

The mayor added:

“We are going to live through a difficult period. What will be hard for associations is that all local authorities are subject to budgetary restrictions at the same time. There will be a reduction everywhere and a need to scale back. We must have the honesty to say it.

The two communities are therefore preparing for “difficult trade-offs” in the coming months, in almost all sectors.

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