The RSA at the heart of the standoff between the departments and the executive

Faced with the efforts requested by the government on the 2025 budget, 71 departments, chaired by the right and the center, are threatening to suspend the payment of active solidarity income (RSA), but also the care of new unaccompanied minors (MNA ) from January 1, 2025.

The battle is underway among the right and the center

To put it into context, la project of the 2025 finance law by Michel Barnier foresees 5 billion euros in savings for the communities localesincluding 2.2 billion euros for the departments, according to the Départements de France association.

The reaction to the announcement of this budget cut was not long in coming. « From January 1, all departments of the right and the center will suspend thes payments » you RSA et « we will no longer take care of new unaccompanied minors » declared Nicolas Lacroix, president of the group of departments of the right, center and independents (DCI) within the Départements de France association. A decision which is not without consequences, especially for households with very modest incomes, exposed to a situation of over-indebtedness.

Departments face expenses that increase from year to year. Actual operating expenses amount to 62.65 billion euros (not including net savings of 8.6 billion) in 2023, an increase of 6.2% compared to 2022. In addition, individual allocations of solidarity (AIS) increased by 4.5% (19.02 billion) in 2023. The overall debt amounts to 30.8 billion euros.

Taking advantage of the national meetings of the departments of France gathered in Angers, the communities are asking the government to review its copy. They demand the abandonment of the planned levy on operating revenues (PSR) as well as the freezing of the VAT dynamic.

The government's response

The return of the Prime Minister was not long in coming. He addressed the representatives of the departments and announced that the government was going to “very significantly reduce the effort” which will be asked of local authorities in the 2025 budget.

Michel Barnier revealed five measures :

• the reduction in the rate of levy on departmental revenues, initially planned by 2%;
• the 0.5 point increase in the ceiling on transfer taxes for valuable consideration (often associated with “notary fees”) levied by the departments on real estate transactions, for three years;
• the renunciation of the retroactive nature of the reduction in the rate of the Compensation Fund for value added tax, which reimburses local authorities for the VAT they pay on their investment expenditure;
• the increase of 200 million euros in aid paid by the National Solidarity Fund for Autonomy to departments with skills in matters of autonomy and disability;
• the spread over four years, and no longer three, of the increase in contributions from local employers to the National Retirement Fund for Local Authority Agents (CNRACL).

Finally, the tenant of Matignon plans to create next year a “shared steering body between the State and the departments” responsible in particular for considering the creation of a “single social allowance”.