“I was shocked and appalled by his comments. » The interview with the President of the Republic at 20:00 on TF1 and France 2 on Sunday, September 24, was “the spark that ignited the gunpowder” for Philippe Guiguen, mayor (DVD) of Cleis-sous-Bois (Yvelines). “Mr Macron is an intelligent person who must master all the principles of the French tax system. But when he says that municipalities, not the government, are to blame for the increase in property taxes, that’s a lie,” says a representative of this city of 17,000 people.
This Wednesday a high-profile speech was given on the occasion of the University of the Mayors of West Paris (Umop), which took place in Port-Marly (Yvelines). And Philippe Guiguen gives a very specific example. If in 2012 the total operating grant (DGF) at the municipal level was 3.2 million euros, in 2023 it will be only 300,000 euros.
“For twelve years, my team and I managed not to raise taxes, but today this is no longer possible,” he warns. And it should be recalled that “communities basically have two resources: property taxes and the Social Security Fund.”
Raising property taxes is ‘the only solution’
Before deciding to raise taxes in his territory, the elected official first demonstrated the rationalization of his office, going so far as to eliminate 10 positions in the mayor’s office. Not enough. “Today, the only solution I have left is to raise property taxes,” he regrets.
He said it was a “totally wrong” choice but followed the government’s decision to abolish house tax. The boomerang effect is being seen in many communities in France. “We have no choice but to activate this single lever on the owners, who, let us remember, are ordinary people, not rich or billionaires,” laments Mayor Le Clay.
The councilor wishes to clarify that he “only expresses his opinion on this issue”: Plaisir, Maurepas, Montigny-le-Bretonnet, Voisin-le-Bretonnet… The other mayors of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines agglomeration did not hesitate. to support him by “joining him on terms,” they explain.
“When I see the attitude of a large number of French mayors, I tell myself that this cannot continue. According to a member of the public council of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, who sent a letter to Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, dissatisfaction with this issue is growing. The ideal would be to review all existing tax mechanisms. »
Source: Le Parisien
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