Anger is growing in local communities after Michel Barnier’s announcements on the 2025 budget. The Prime Minister is asking municipalities to make drastic savings. In the region, the Montpellier Metropolis is hit hard by these budgetary cuts.
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Five billion euros: this is the minimum that French communities will have to save to contribute to the effort of the 2025 budget, presented Thursday October 10 to the National Assembly.
Purpose of the operation? Rbring the public deficit from 6.1% to 5% next year. The ministers responsible for communities and the budget plan to take 3 billion euros from the revenues of 450 large communities, those whose budget exceeds 40 million euros. Large cities, urban communities and departments are concerned.
For Montpellier Métropole, the bill is very steep: this budgetary drain would amount to 13.6 million euros for 2025. And more than 7 million euros for the municipality of Montpellier alone.
Very bad news for the president of the metropolis while many projects have been launched and these financial commitments must be honored.
That’s half of the positions to operate the city’s swimming pools, it’s half of those in media libraries. Do I have to close the swimming pools and media libraries?
Michael Delafosse, President of Montpellier Mediterranée Métropole
“I’m telling you straight away: there will be fewer national sporting events in Montpellier. We will stick to a maximum of three” exclaims Michael Delafosse. “And in terms of culture, we will support the demonstrations but I will be very attentive” concluded the mayor of the Hérault capital.
Bad news also for Perpignan which will lose more than 2 million euros. Ditto for Alès. In Nîmes, it is 1 million 8 less in the coffers and in Narbonne, the loss would amount to 1.1 million euros.
In total, ten intercommunal communities are concerned in the former Languedoc Roussillon region:
In Hérault: Sète, Béziers, Montpellier, Pays de l’Or,
In the Gard: Alès and Nîmes,
In Aude, Narbonne,
In the Eastern Pyrenees: Perpignan.
The government thus intends to recover 3 billion euros directly, or even much more thanks to the upcoming reductions in transfers to these same communities.
“If we consider the 5 billion euros overall, it’s an unprecedented sum!” asserts Yohann Jacquet, from the Intercommunalités de France association. “Sou François Hollande we were at 11 billion drains on the finances of communities, but spread over three years” underlines this communications manager.
According to this organization, as intermunicipalities are at the peak of their investment cycle, the withdrawals envisaged by theThe State would represent up to 15% of their gross savings, forcing them either to give up their projects, or to go into heavy debt to honor the contracts they have signed.
Following the publication of the estimate of these deductions by the association of intercommunalities of France, a wave of protest arose among local elected officials.
Negotiations have already been launched with the government to try to limit the effort required of communities.
Written with S.Banus.
