Cis a document which raised questions, notably during a session of the Departmental Council, at the beginning of November 2024. Entitled “2024 subsidies from municipalities for investments by Sdis, Departmental Fire and Rescue Service”, it draws up a table with , in particular, three columns. The first corresponds to the name of the municipality, the second establishes an amount and the third enters the decision of the municipality to pay or not the said amount. For example for Dax: an amount of €57,733.07 with a “no” entered in the “decision” column; or €75,184.96 and a “no” for the town of Mont-de-Marsan.
To understand what these figures and these decisions imply, it is necessary to go into a little more detail about the overall financing of Sdis. Each year, the Department and municipalities implement the resources allocated to it. For 2025, the Departmental Council is contributing a little over 25 million euros; and the municipalities of around 11 million, including 800,000 euros for Dax and 960,063 euros for Mont-de-Marsan.
Until 2023, a deliberation fixed the total distribution of the municipal allocation as follows: “15% was borne by the 32 municipalities served by the three main emergency centers (Dax, Mont-de-Marsan and Biscarrosse), when the remaining 85% were by all the Landes municipalities, including the 32 served by the three main emergency centers”, specifies Marcel Pruet, president of the Departmental Service fire and rescue.
A voluntary contribution
In 2024, a new calculation method was adopted for the first envelope. From now on, the latter is no longer supported by the 32 municipalities served by the three main emergency centers, but by the 104 municipalities served by centers manned by professional firefighters. Thus, for this first envelope, “the 32 municipalities mechanically saw their contribution decrease. A total drop of €302,886.35, including €57,733.07 for Dax and €75,184.96 for Mont-de-Marsan,” adds Marcel Pruet.
Based on this observation, and in view of the numerous investments planned in the coming years at the Sdis level, its board of directors noted that “the reduction in the contribution of these 32 municipalities would be requested at the equivalent in investment subsidies », continues Marcel Pruet. And added: “It’s a voluntary contribution. Each municipality is free to accept or refuse. »
When questioned, the mayors of the main towns in the department, who refused to grant this subsidy to Sdis investments, presented their arguments. Firstly, everyone wanted to recall that if the method of calculation has been revised, it is because their cities, while taking into account the weight of each, have “contributed much more than certain municipalities and have been doing so for years “.
A contradictory decision
Concerning the reduction of €75,184.96, Charles Dayot, mayor of Mont-de-Marsan, provides another reading: “This first envelope has actually decreased by €75,184.96, but share number two, the one requested from all municipalities, increased by 42,488 euros for Mont-de-Marsan. »
Secondly, Charles Dayot and Julien Dubois denounce a contradictory decision: “Things have been reassessed according to the reality of the interventions, we must leave it there. We cannot say that we are correcting the amounts in order to achieve more equitable financing, and at the same time, ask us to give them back,” regrets Julien Dubois.
Currently, the Association of Mayors of Landes and Sdis are asking municipalities and communities of municipalities to obtain voluntary participation from 2025. On this subject, the mayor of Dax affirms that the City has “accepted the principle”. “Mont-de-Marsan is also part of a reflection to support Sdis,” concludes Charles Dayot.
