While the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, says he is ready to “very significantly reduce the effort” requested from the departments, for the president of the Côtes-d'Armor department, the account is not there. He calls on the State to consolidate community revenues.
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“Our hopes are dashed to pieces“, laments Christian Coail, president of the Côtes-d'Armor department. The elected official has just returned from the meetings of the departments organized this week in Angers. Elected officials particularly upset and worried since the presentation of the 2025 budget by Prime Minister Michel Barnier last month.
On the program, savings of 5 billion euros for communities, in particular for the departments: according to the Départements de France association, they are the stratum of communities most affected, with 44% of the effort, or 2. 2 billion euros.
Also read : Budget 2025. “It is enough to no longer run the TER for four months”, the savings requested from communities do not come through
Meeting in Angers, presidents and departmental advisors therefore developed a transpartisan resolution submitted to the head of government, at the end of these meetings. Message received, assures the person concerned who promised to “significantly reduce effort” asked the departments.
But for Christian Coail, “it is far from meeting expectations, the disappointment is commensurate with the work provided during these meetings.“
Prime Minister Michel Barnier notably mentioned the reduction in the rate of levy on departmental revenues, initially planned at 2%. These levies were to concern all communities whose operating budget exceeds 40 million euros.
In Côtes-d'Armor, the department, the town and the agglomeration of Saint-Brieuc as well as Lannion-Trégor Community are concerned. “For the department, this represents 13.6 million euros of loss, for the three other communities, it is approximately 1.3 million each“, explains the councilor who estimates that all of the measures presented in the 2025 budget represent a loss of 35 million euros across the entire Costa Rican territory.
Also read : Faced with the drop in funding planned by the 2025 budget: “The mission becomes impossible” for elected officials
Levies which will therefore be reduced, the Prime Minister promised, but by how much?
“We asked for the pure and simple cancellation of these levies, because we believe that we contribute sufficiently to national solidarity”asserts Christian Coail in reference to the various individual solidarity allowances, gradually transferred to the departments at the beginning of the 2000s.
Active solidarity income (RSA), personalized autonomy allowance (APA) and pDisability compensation payments (PCH) are today paid by the departments and compensated at 40% by the State. “But 60% remains our responsibility, underlines the president of Côtes-d’Armor. Whereas at the time of the transfer of skills, the State compensated them 100%. For our department, this represents 85 million euros in total.”
Also read : Budget 2025. Increase VAT and working hours, the proposal from centrist senators for “collective effort”
In this department, social spending represented 56% of the operating budget 10 years ago, it is 63% today. The elected official assures not to question the payment of these social expenses which are “obligatory“, contrary to the threats of certain right-wing departments in reaction to Michel Barnier's announcements.
The fact remains that if expenses increase each year, revenues are more than volatile because “linked to economic activity” reports Christian Coail, citing the departments' revenues from VAT, “which fluctuate“or those related to notary fees,”which fell suddenly in 2023, due to the real estate crisis“.
Result: less 20 million revenue for Côtes-d'Armor in 2023, same thing in 2024. “The situation is untenable!“, blurts out the chosen one.
And if Michel Barnier has promised a half-point deduction on notary fees in addition for the departments, the representative of Côtes-d'Armor recalls that the measure will only be applicable in mid-July and for three years only.
He calls for a change of method: “We are fed up with the State deciding and the departments paying. Let us stop presenting ourselves with a fait accompli.“
If we don't have the necessary revenue, we will have to make trade-offs on what we already do. It is the communities and residents who will suffer.
Christian CoailPresident of the Côtes-d’Armor department
Road infrastructure, colleges, fishing ports and even the deployment of optical fiber, but also child protection are also the responsibility of the departments. In these areas, many projects could suffer from budgetary restrictions.
“If we don't have the necessary revenue, we will have to make trade-offs on what we already do.regrets Christian Coail. It is the communities and residents who will suffer.“
As a response, the Prime Minister announced the establishment, from “beginning of 2025”of a “steering body, shared by the State and the departments, which will make major decisions.. “CThis body will not only be informed, but I want it to be consulted for any State decision that affects departmental finances.”he clarified, referring in particular to the work to be carried out for the creation of a “single social allowance”.
