43.1 million euros for the year 2024. This is the amount of State unpaid debts calculated by the president of the Gers Department, Phlippe Dupouy. He calls on François Bayrou, the government and the President of the Republic on a situation that he considers critical for ensuring local services.
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“This Friday, I sent a reminder to François Bayrou, Prime Minister, of the unpaid debts that the State owes to @LeGers32. (…) For the Gers, this under-compensation reaches precisely 43.1 million euros in 2024.
In a tweet published on to its obligations.
In an accompanying letter, the left-wing elected official specifies that these unpaid amounts therefore amount to 43.1 million euros for the year 2024 alone. A sum which corresponds to the under-compensation of social charges transferred by the state since 2004 according to the Department.
A way of alerting the government to the situation in Gers at a time when the government is considering the 2025 finance bill, explains Philippe Dupouy to France 3 Occitanie. “We are reaching a situation of strangulation, we want to say to the government: take care that these essential missions for the most precarious citizens, whether people with disabilities or the elderly, can be ensured.”
In detail, the department of Gers thus recorded 15.3 million euros uncompensated for active solidarity income (RSA), 14.3 million for personalized autonomy assistance, 7.38 million euros for disability compensation benefit. He points to 4.7 million euros not compensated for measures imposed by the State such as the Ségur bonus. Finally, 1 million euros not compensated for VAT on built land and the contribution on business added value (CVAE).
And this is not the first year where the State has failed to meet its obligations. But the situation is all the more delicate as the government is considering severe cuts in community budgets in 2025.
We are asking the government to be vigilant. Our social spending is naturally increasing with revenues collapsing and we no longer have fiscal autonomy. We are in an extremely tense situation
Philippe Dupouy, president of the Gers department
For comparison, this lack of resources alone represents 5 times the budget allocated each year for the renovation of departmental roads. “Through the 2025 Finance Bill, I urge the Government to act so that the Departments of France, and local authorities as a whole, are not thrown into the abyss”, writes President Philippe Dupouy again.
The Gers elected official is not the only one to challenge the State in Occitania. This is also the case for Kleber Mesquida, the president of the Hérault departmental council.
In this other territory of Occitania, the amount of unpaid debts from the State amounts to 274 million euros.
Read also: “The State is asphyxiating us”: 300 elected officials denounce budget cuts
On December 14, elected officials from 300 municipalities in Hérault gathered to warn of the threats weighing on public services and local finances.
