The Marne departmental council has chosen to cancel the vows ceremony scheduled for January 2025. The reason for this cancellation is the finances which are in the red. As in many departments.
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Goodbye champagne, petit fours, foie gras and other toasts for the New Year. The Marne departmental council has chosen to open the year 2025 under the sign of sobriety. In a press release sent on Thursday, November 21, the department explains the reasons for the cancellation of the greeting ceremony scheduled for January 17, 2025. A traditional moment of conviviality celebrated with the local drink, champagne. The ceremony was initially scheduled for January 17 at the Capitole de Châlons-en-Champagne.
“Faced with the significant budgetary difficulties that the Department of Marne is currently experiencing, President Jean-Marc Roze has taken the decision, with regret, to cancel the ceremony of 2025 wishes to the constituted bodies, organized jointly with the prefect of Marne, as well as that the Marnais event of the year, which was to take place on this same occasion on January 17 at the Capitole de Châlons-en-Champagne”, indicates the Department.
No “Marnais of the year” ceremony
The ceremony on the 17th was to cost 15,000 euros for the wishes to the bodies, 5,000 of which were paid by the prefecture, the Department tells us. He was to organize during this ceremony the “Marnais of the year”. To reward residents who stand out in the area, and it cost 20,000 euros. “If budgetary procedures allow us, we will do it again next year. This was the quote that the Union newspaper offered us. The staff ceremony, however, is maintained.
According to our colleagues from the economic newspaper Matot Braine, specializing in the economy, Marne ranks 3rd in metropolitan France for the lowest operating revenue per inhabitant. By comparison, the metropolitan average is €1,073. Marne's operating expenses are estimated at €477.6 million, or €826 million per inhabitant. Marne ranks 6th in metropolitan France for the lowest operating expenditure per inhabitant.
Focus on solidarity
In addition, the ceremony of greetings to agents of the Department, which traditionally takes place in January, is also canceled. “This decision reflects rigorous and responsible management of public finances in a context where the Department must concentrate its resources on its essential missions: solidarity with the most vulnerable, support for the territories and the preservation of local services..
The president of the departmental council wishes to emphasize that the community “will do everything possible to find room for maneuver allowing it to reconnect in the future with these moments of exchange and conviviality”.
The elected official from Marne is not involved in the controversy with the State. He “thanks all elected officials and departmental agents, the partners of Marne, and particularly prefect Henri Prévost and the prefectural services for their understanding and continued commitment in these demanding times.”
The Department's debt as of January 1, 2023 amounted to €155.9 million, or an average per capita of €270, well below that of mainland France (€485). Marne is thus the 12th least indebted Department. Note, among the least indebted per capita, Aube (€56) and Haute-Marne (€156) and among the most indebted, Ardennes (€597).
