Sébastien Vincini: “the government is placing the Department in an unsustainable situation!”

What is the impact of the finance bill for the Haute-Garonne department?

Over the past two years, we have lost €253 million in revenue with the real estate crisis and the reduction in VAT which compensated for the elimination of the contribution on business added value (CVAE). This means that our gross savings and our self-financing capacities are collapsing and that we will start to squeeze our operating budgets. For the first time in 2024, our expenses rose above our revenues. The VAT that is announced is not paid and worst of all, the VAT that was paid is taken back.

How high?

In 2023, it was around fifteen million euros and in 2024, the least received was thirteen million euros with a recovery of 5 million euros. This morning, I was told that another 15 million euros would be taken back from me. We only depend on national revenues apart from notary fees. There is an element of major incompetence and a lack of transparency on the part of the government. I have alerted the government for two years. We are caught between increasing social needs and collapsing revenues. The Departments no longer have any fiscal leverage. No more fiscal autonomy.
These are recipes we rely on. These are captive expenses: agents, our partners, RSA, etc. Following the announcements of the bill we are being given yet another blow. These additional charges are unsustainable! Every year, the equivalent of a town like Balma is built, which means additional firefighter trips, elderly people, RSA beneficiaries, people with disabilities; This rate of change in benefits is only increasing, we are at +4% increase. Today I will fall to 1 billion 530 million, I will be missing a minimum of 164 million euros to complete the 2025 budget. The demographic fact of the department is not considered in Paris.

Which areas are likely to be affected by this drop in revenue?

Behind these drains, there is less public service: we affect the structural, our obligatory missions. We launched a savings plan a year ago. 80 agents: retirements and fixed-term contracts have not been replaced.
If I remove all proactive policies: culture, remote assistance for vulnerable and isolated people, social diversity for example. Everything that is outside of the obligatory missions, that’s 30 million euros in savings, but it’s 165 million euros that we have to find. What worries me most is the impact on social support in this country. It’s going to be a blast! We are being cut off from our supplies while services are already in degraded mode. It is the DNA of our skills that is weakened. The departments will have to face an unsustainable situation. Today, 30 departments cannot make ends meet, but 85% of the departments, including Haute-Garonne, will not be able to make ends meet by 2025. There will be a real social breakdown. This is a danger for the social cohesion of our territories.

How will you estimate expenses?

We are leaving for six months of work, the budget for the first time since 1945 will be approved in March. I’m going to shift everything. There is a need for dialogue, I am not going to do like the government and say: we are cutting here, there and there. All this will have an impact on nursing homes, our partners, the firefighters. I’m going to have to put the effort on everyone. I cannot determine this alone.

Are you going to challenge the government about your difficulties?

Tomorrow we will vote on a resolution to challenge the government. We are going to write to all parliamentarians, and on Wednesday, we are meeting by video with all the presidents of the departments to prepare a questioning on the measures and levy and study the stability of revenue. The choices that have been made over the past 7 years have led us into a wall. We need a real dialogue between communities and the government to move forward methodically.