It is a somewhat unusual budgetary orientation report that Rennes Métropole presented this Thursday, December 19, 2024, during the last metropolitan council of the year. “We are at a level of uncertainty that has never been seen before and which continues to grow,” points out the president of Rennes Métropole Nathalie Appéré. The mechanics of our budget preparation last June were very advanced at the time when the Barnier government’s 2025 finance bill was introduced. Since then, the Barnier government has fallen and so has the PLF, but uncertainty remains. »
A context which led Rennes Métropole, whose budget was one billion euros in 2024, not to take into account the budget cuts, of 14.6 million euros, provided for in the 2025 Finance Bill Budget cuts that the Brittany Region has decided to integrate (for an amount of 57 million euros), even if the PLF 2025 will not be implemented. applied. “It’s the best option in the current fog,” believes the mayor of Rennes.
“Not able to properly integrate these budget cuts”
“We expect that there will be restrictions for the Metropolis, but as this PLF does not apply and we were on too short a timetable to carry out in-depth arbitrations, we would not have been able to ability to properly integrate these budget cuts,” explains Marie Ducamin, vice-president of Rennes Métropole for finance and public procurement, in charge of presenting the report.
Which specifies that “this in-depth revision work will be carried out during the first half of 2025”. Rennes Métropole has therefore planned to present a supplementary budget which integrates future potential budget cuts next June. And the elected official, also mayor of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande, affirms, “we did a crash test and looked at the impacts. With 14 million euros less, our financial situation would no longer be tenable in the long term.”
Savings to be expected in operating expenses
The Metropolis has therefore already planned to make savings, mainly in its operating expenses. “This work has already started, but we do not want to do it with an ax. In particular, we will be able to question each recruitment. On investment, we want to maintain a high level of investment, 1.8 billion euros until 2029. But the question also arises, with perhaps less expensive projects. Our wish is to have as little impact as possible on local stakeholders, particularly the associative fabric. »
The budget for Rennes Métropole will be presented on January 30, 2025. Will the fog be cleared by then?
