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Lina Tran
Published on
Nov. 18, 2024 at 6:50 a.m.
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Who has heard of the municipal merger project of La Chapelle-Hareng, Planquay and Thiberville (Eure)? If you attended the last municipal councils of the three communes in September, the subject was raised publicly there, for the first time.
But the advice remains little followed by residents (and elected officials know it). Before this, were there any public statements? If the Norman Awakening never heard of this project, this is also the case for this elected official from La Chapelle-Hareng who denounces this merger of municipalities. Because the project, as unexpected as it may be, should result in the creation of a new commune this 1is January 2025. Explanations.
“A hasty project”, denounces an elected official from La Chapelle-Hareng
The situation was tense during the La Chapelle-Hareng council meeting, as described to us by this municipal official, who wishes to remain anonymous. Faced with the arguments of the different mayors, he remains skeptical while being realistic about the situation. “We know that the merger of municipalities is a desire of the State. We hear that she wants to reduce grants to municipalities. But the mayor [Caroline Jouas] tells us about the DGF [dotation globale de fonctionnement]. This only concerns our operations, not our investments. There is no urgency. Our accounts are stable. We have no debts,” he emphasizes. The elected official points out the negative effects on taxation. “There, Thiberville is the winner. Our taxes will increase.” The education argument does not convince him. “Registering our children has a cost, but for a few years. In college, it is the Department that takes care of them, he recalls. Mr. Paris spoke of free, which is false. It will only be integrated into the common budget. » Nor that of services. “Mr. Paris tells us about his website, but we have a Facebook page with which we communicate. He sells us local services, but they will always be 5 km from the village,” describes the elected official from La Chapelle-Hareng.
What happened this Thursday, November 7?
The elected officials of La Chapelle-Hareng, Planquay and Thiberville all met, this Thursday, November 7, 2024in their respective town halls, for their traditional municipal council. This wasn't just any city council. “It’s about the future of the community », as introduced by Guy Paris, the mayor of Thiberville, at the start of the gathering of elected officials. The creation of a new commune was the first item on the agenda.
After having explained the motivations of the municipality for initiating this approach, the Thiberville elected officials voted to unanimity this merger (18 elected officials present out of 19) as well as the name “new commune of Thiberville”. About five kilometers away, the elected officials of PlanquayMayor Micheline Paris in the lead (wife of Guy, mayor of Thiberville), also voted for this project: 9 votes for, only one against; an elected official was absent.
On the La Chapelle-Hareng side, the municipal council dragged on. In addition to the presence of a representative of Public Finance to discuss the results of the financial analysis of the creation of a new municipality from 2025, discussions between the mayor, Caroline Jouas, and other elected officials were tense. The vote took place at bulletin secret – it took place by show of hands in the two other municipal councils – and its results reflect the evening: divided (4 votes “for” and 4 votes “against”); the council being even in number, following a recent death and two resignations.
The final decision now rests with the Prefecture, because the creation of a new commune is a matter of a prefectural decree. But by consulting the law, we can already say that the project should succeed. In fact, a merger of municipalities does not need a majority of votes.
How to create a new municipality?
With the reforms to the local authorities law of 2010, then that of 2015, the merger of municipalities has been facilitated by successive governments and continues, even today, to be encouraged. This transformation was part of a financial logic, where the pooling of services would reduce costs for municipalities and ultimately for the State. This encouragement also responds to other problems, such as the decline in the commitment of local elected officials. Municipalities no longer find mayors.
There are several ways to initiate this process. Note that the municipalities must be contiguous, which is the case for La Chapelle-Hareng, Le Planquay and Thiberville. The project can be initiated by municipalities, municipal councils, a public cooperation establishment or the Prefect. Residents do not have a direct say. It is necessary to obtain the agreement of two thirds of the municipal councils, representing two thirds of the total population. Only the absence of a qualified majority requires town halls to consult their residents during a public vote. The prefecture will be able to validate the creation of a new municipality if half of the voters voted in favor of the merger.
More information on the vie-publique.fr website
An untenable economic situation
Contacted by us, the mayors of La Chapelle-Hareng and Planquay both mentioned the budgetary pressure of the State on small municipalitiesand in particular the drop in the overall operating allocationthe famous DGF.
This share paid to the municipalities serves, as its name indicates, to finance the functioning of a municipality (municipal agents, electricity bill, etc.) and to compensate for the loss of tax revenue (such as the elimination of the housing tax on main residences).
Our main income comes from taxation, which is falling, and from the DGF, which is also falling. When we see that the DGF is at the same level as the cost invested in our children's education, this poses a problem.
“The Department, the State and Public Finance have warned us that the year 2025 will be difficult for small towns,” warns the mayor of Planquay. When I started, I had a cleaning lady and a technical agent. Today it's my turn to do the cleaning. »
Micheline Paris claims to have had this merger idea for two or three years.
As elected officials, we are responsible for the situation. This is not a decision taken lightly. I see this merger as a pooling of costs. We do not want to reach Bernay's level and increase our taxes, because that is what will happen.
In Thiberville, money is also central to this project. The addition of the two villages will make it possible to exceed Micheline Paris (i.e. 2,086 administered), “we are entering a new stratum [celle des communes de 2 000 à 4 999 habitants]we will be able to benefit from more grants and financial exemptions, presented Guy Paris. The DGF will be blocked and will not see a reduction for three years. »
A goal that the municipality was unable to achieve. The city peaked at around 1,800 inhabitantswhile housing estates were built to attract younger people“except that it is mainly elderly people who want to be closer to local services”. But will the population really get younger? asked Didier Langeard, elected official from Thiberville. “La Chapelle-Hereng has a lot of children. But what is important is to increase our population, without forgetting the active population,” replied Guy Paris.
One of the important points that connect the three municipalities (apart from their position against the wind turbine project at L'Hôtellerie) is the education of young children in Thiberville schools. “It would make their education easier. We were already showing solidarity with them with tax advantages,” specifies the mayor of Thiberville.
A solidarity that the city councilors put forward to have this project accepted. “ The identity of the municipalities will be preserved. There will always be a delegated town hall,” they say. But who will be the mayor of the new commune?
Increasing taxation
If Thiberville is well off regarding future taxation, this is not the case for the other two municipalities, as Guy Paris mentioned. “Obviously, it will have to increase among them to reach our level.”
The newly created municipality has 12 years to unify your tax system (i.e. 2037). According to the report produced by the Eure Public Finances (based on 2023 figures), the property tax on built properties should reach 36.05% in 2037, or +5 percentage points for La Chapelle-Hareng (at 31 .08% in 2023) and + 13 points for Le Planquay (22.95%), compared to -1 point for Thiberville (37.31%).
Even worse for unbuilt properties (which concern farmers) which must reach 29.82% in 2037: + 6 percentage points in La Chapelle, + 22 points in Planquay and -12 points in Thiberville. Only the company contribution will benefit the two small villages.
The Public Finance report concludes positively to the merger, indicating that the budget of the new municipality will allow as much to repay your debts, to function, as to continue to invest : “Subject to the future 2024 results in operation and investment, the working capital of the new municipality will be sufficient to consider interesting future equipment projects for the territory of the three merged municipalities”.
A report which should soon be accessible to residents via the town hall and online.
A project planned for January 1, 2025
What may surprise you about this project is the date of application : the 1is January 2025. As indicated by the three mayors, the rapid start of this merger is due the pre-election period where new projects are brought to a standstill.
Waiting wasn't an option for them in view of the economic situation and the government's savings announcements.
Quid in the opinion of the population? Because none of the three municipalities has organized a public information meeting on this subject. “We didn’t have time,” admits Caroline Jouas. But we planned to do it as soon as the decision was made. » Same speech in Thiberville.
“This falls under the jurisdiction of the municipal council,” explains Micheline Paris. The residents elected us and trust us. »
It is true that the law does not require any public consultation [voir encadré]but isn’t it a question of participatory democracy?
At the time of closing of our newspaper (Tuesday November 12, 2024), the prefecture has not yet published an official response. To be continued…
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