to denounce new budgetary constraints, these mayors of Gard close their town hall

As the congress of mayors begins this Tuesday, November 19 in Paris, around fifty mayors of Gard have chosen to close their town hall. A symbolic way of expressing their anger, particularly regarding the finance law for the 2025 budget.

In Genolhac as in Cendras, the doors of the town hall have been closed since this Tuesday, November 19 in the morning. On telephone answering machines, a message informs callers that they will remain open until Thursday, November 21 inclusive. At the very moment when the congress of mayors is being held in Paris, around fifty municipalities in Gard have made the same choice. Following an idea born in Hautes-Cévennes.

“We meet regularly between mayors of Hautes-Cévennes, reveals Guy Cheron, the mayor of Génolhac, and when we learned the content of the finance law for the year 2025, the idea came to us to make a movement. We wanted to react to the situation.”

This situation is therefore the finance bill for the year 2025. In a national context where the Government is looking for savings, these mayors fear seeing their allocations drop. “There was already a drop in allocations a few years ago, continues Guy Cheron, lhe VAT compensation fund (FCTVA) will be reduced by 800 million euros. From January 1, its rate will increase from 16.4% to 14.85% and It’s going to be reflected in our finances.”

Behind these figures, reality catches up. In this town of 900 inhabitants, the town is working on the repair of eight bridges, damaged by bad weather. An overall envelope of 800,000 euros has been put forward, but beyond community funding, the municipal share should be subject to change with the reduction in VAT allocations.

A few kilometers to the south, a project to restructure the town center is taking up the daily life of Sylvain André, the communist mayor. THE“draft mandate” the financing of which could also be recalculated. “The first announcements are very negative: we are going to punish good students, he regrets. We only borrow on investments, we don’t spend money we don’t have.”

Also president of the association of rural mayors of Gard, the elected official denounces a “lie of the State” towards local authorities: “They say that we are responsible for the debt. This is false! We present balanced budgets, a town hall is managed like a household. When we borrow from the bank it checks whether our financial situation is healthy.”

“We will have to make choices. Retirees may not be replaced. We will be forced to cut corners, reduce subsidies for associations… We are aware that there are efforts to be made but this is too much.”

For both, the symbolic decision to temporarily close city hall is understood and supported by the population, they assure. “The residents understand our situation and see that we are fighting for them. But obviously if there is an emergency during these three days, we will help them,” assures Sylvain André. Its Cevennes counterpart completes: “we are not involved in controversy, we are apolitical, and when we are elected in small towns it is full time”.

Above all, elected officials fear that these new issues will fuel the vocations crisis. In a survey carried out by the Association of Mayors of France among 5,000 of them, 81% believe that their physical or mental health is affected by their mandate.

“When we saw these constraints, we all decided to stop there, reveals Guy Cheron, we may have reacted out of anger, but that doesn't make us want to continue. It’s discouraging.”

“We are in daily contact with the populations, on the front line of the Republic, and a year and a half before the municipal elections, we feel attacked by this administrative complexity”says Sylvain André, mayor since 2017. Nevertheless passionate about his role, he concludes by affirming that he also thrives on “full of everyday victories”, gestures and advice which may seem anecdotal but which reinforce his mandate.

From Friday morning, and like his counterpart Guy Cheron, he will reopen the doors of the town hall. Hoping that this symbolic action will allow people to be heard.