Owners who received their tax notice this year saw their property tax increase in the 31 municipalities by around 7.5% on average. This is due to the increase in the bases but also to taxes that we know less about: the TEOM and the Gemapi. Explanations.
This is a paradox. On the one hand, elected officials proudly announce that they have not increased property tax rates and, on the other, taxpayers subject to property tax, who see their property taxes skyrocket.
Two realities that can be explained. For the second year in a row, after a year of record inflation between 2022 and 2023, the property tax in the Montpellier metropolis has increased significantly despite unchanged municipal rates. We owe this increase to two often overlooked taxes: taxes on the removal of household waste (TEOM) and the Gemapi, also called flood tax. For 2024, the observed increase is, on average, 7.5%. After a roughly identical increase the previous year. This is starting to get very expensive…
The increase in bases of 3.9%
We know that the municipalities have not touched their municipal rates and, very often, they have promoted it by ensuring that local taxes would not increase. This is false because the first person responsible for the increase in property taxes is the base. After a historic increase of 7.1% in 2023, it increased this year by 3.9%. It is calculated on the basis of a figure provided by INSEE which publishes its harmonized consumer price index (HICP) in November of the previous year.
We will also know next month the figure which will serve as the basis for the 2025 property tax which promises to be lower but still positive. For two years, rental values have been increasing, reflecting the inflationary crisis of recent months linked in particular to the war in Ukraine.
TEOM and Gemapi
To the increase in the bases, two increases must be added in the Montpellier Metropolis: these are the household waste removal tax (TEOM) and the Gemapi tax for management of aquatic environments and flood prevention.
Two taxes that have increased in different proportions. The TEOM increased from 12.35% to 14.62%. A nice increase which has repercussions on the tax form. Just like the sum allocated for the flood tax which increased from a desired amount of €8 million in 2023 to €13 million in 2024. Because this last tax is not a rate but an expected tax revenue, decided in assembly. It is then up to the Tax Office to make the calculations to collect it from taxpayers. In the end, this does not change the fact that it is increasing significantly this year. This is also the case in the neighboring communities of Pays de l’Or and Lunel.
A political issue
All this obviously has political consequences. And these increases did not fail to boost the self-declared right-wing candidate for the next municipal elections in Montpellier, Isabelle Perrein, who sees “a hefty bill… The waste of free transport, the millions of euros for useless work… we will have to pay”she wrote in a press release.
In the Metropolitan Council recently, Serge Guiseppin, an opposition elected official, recalled that the community’s finances were bloodless. The Montpellier Metropolis has a fairly high level of debt in a community which has “made the choice of a very proactive investment”as underlined by the president of the Métropole Michaël Delafosse. What is there to fear about an upcoming increase in local taxes?
A new increase in 2025?
Nothing is less certain eighteen months before the municipal elections but the next budgetary orientation debate promises to be closely watched. Because, as Frédéric Maury of Local Nova points out: “For municipalities, the property tax is today the one and only lever for bringing in money.”
Furthermore, we will know the increase in the bases for the 2025 property tax next month. After 7.1% and 3.9%, specialists agree that it will be around 1.5%… It’s better, but it’s still an increase!
