Among the key measures: a levy on communities (intercommunities, departments, regions) called “local finance resilience fund”. Amount: three billion euros. Around 450 communities would be affected (all communities which have more than 40 million euros in operating revenue, according to the association). This 2% levy represents amounts ranging from 0.8 to 154 million euros, according to the Intercommunalités de France association. The latter mapped the intercommunalities concerned (find this map here). And denounces the impacts on the communities affected by this new economic measure.
Here are the maps of the departments and regions concerned:
“The Carcassonne metropolitan area will have to postpone a project to reuse wastewater for agricultural irrigation. For the agglomeration of Port-Jérôme-sur-Seine, in Normandy, support for energy renovation from social landlords is impacted. For the Grenoble conurbation, six million euros less is a third of the budget it devotes to the mobility union. For the Grand Chalon, which I chair, 1.6 million is 80% of a gymnasium that I planned to build. These are very concrete things,” warns Sébastien Martin, president of Intercommunalités de France, and various right-wing president of Grand Chalon (Saône-et-Loire).
A “tax” on communities
This levy on community revenues (local taxation, state contributions, etc.) will feed a “precautionary fund for communities”. This “levy will be limited to a maximum of 2% of actual operating revenues”, specifies the PLF: “The distribution of the fund the following year will be established after consultation with the local finance committee, within a framework established by law”, specifies the finance bill presented this Thursday by the government.
The Intercommunalités de France association of elected officials is asking the executive to go back, pointing out the risks for communities. “To be able to invest, a community must generate a margin on its operating expenses. The operating expenses collected directly impact our investment margin. This is 15% less capacity to invest for local authorities,” explains Sébastien Martin, who denounces “a tax on local authorities”. The standoff has only just begun. Next step: the debate in the Assembly.
