the essential
Like every year, the water and sanitation budget fueled debates in the Figeac municipal council. The new increase in prices and especially in the subscription planned for 2025 has sparked strong reactions from the three opposition groups. The majority defended “a catch-up”.
The new 2025 water and sanitation rates are likely to cause a lot of discussion in Figeac. A new increase will in fact be applied by the city to try to balance this increasingly “tight” budget. Antoine Soto, deputy mayor in charge of the file, did not hide, at the municipal council Monday evening, the numerous difficulties encountered in resolving the equation. “In 2024, water did not pay for water. We appealed to the main budget with a contribution of 100,000 euros” recalled the elected official, referring to the studies commissioned in 2023. To be able to cope, the The price planned by the study in 2026 will be applied from the coming year with, as a bonus, a notable increase in the price of the water subscription. “In 2025, it is proposed an increase of 8.48% in the variable part of water and an increase of 3.30% in the variable part of sanitation” specified Antoine Soto who detailed: “the price water per m3 Including tax established at €4.68 will increase to €4.84; that of the subscription will increase from €35.25 including tax to €63.93.” “It’s actually a catch-up” justified the elected official.
For the opposition, it was the increase that broke the camel’s back. “It’s still an 80% increase on the subscription, it’s huge. I find it important that the big users – a company, the Figeac town hall, the hospital – contribute more than households” reacted Patricia Gontier. The leader of Vivre Figeac pointed out “the way in which the network was managed for several decades”. The mayor of Figeac did not let the criticism go unnoticed and raised his voice: “you are being demagogy with two bullets! I cannot let you say that we have mismanaged the network […] it is very well maintained.” André Mellinger underlined the results obtained in terms of yield with few leaks and the significant investments so that “the water is of quality”. “Everything is transparent. We renounced certain investments which could have increased the bill, such as the heating network.
Concerning the subscription, he defended an alignment with the prices charged around Figeac. “The percentage of the increase is high but it concerns €30. We are in the idea of price convergence. Look how much it costs elsewhere, the m3 remains less expensive in Figeac than in the neighbors”. For Patricia Gontier, the message sent becomes “completely paradoxical” for Figeac users already hit by other increases such as that of the property tax. “You cannot put everything in the same amalgam, it’s easy to want to globalize” replied André Mellinger who suffered the same remark from Aurélie Morel. “This is not understandable to the population: people lower their consumption to have a lower bill while it is still equal or higher.” Philippe Landrein for the Figeac Autre group added a layer, evoking “a fairly complicated deliberation. It’s difficult to hear.” For once, the entire opposition abstained during the vote.
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River debate on the price of water at the Figeac municipal council
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