The transport minister does not rule out that the capital will be placed “under guardianship” by the French state due to the city’s “serious” financial situation
Paris is not a party for Parisians or for its mayor, Anne Hidalgo. The socialist councilor has recently been criticized for her management of the French capital, both by the municipal opposition and the government. Many Parisians complain about the dirt in the streets, the deterioration of municipal services, the increase in crime, the problems in public transport, the high housing prices, the proliferation of rats in the capital and the increase of homeless people begging on the street corners oa. In addition to these complaints in recent days, there has been strong criticism of Hidalgo from several ministers regarding the capital’s high debt for multimillion-dollar works and the announced increase in property taxes.
Relations between the government and the mayor of Paris have deteriorated in recent weeks. The growing indebtedness of the capital is worrying the French government. Paris’s debt has practically doubled since Hidalgo became mayor in April 2014, from €4.18 billion at the end of that year to €7.75 billion in 2022, equivalent to a debt of €3,500 per Parisian. national press.
The Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune, declared a few days ago that “the financial situation of the City of Paris is serious”. Beaune does not exclude that the capital may therefore be placed “under guardianship” of the State, as provided for in Article 72 of the Constitution. This mechanism has been used a few times in France. It would mean that the Prefect of Paris, who is the representative of the State in that territory, could ask the Court of Auditors of Île-de-France (Paris Region) to review the accounts of the Paris City Council, order a new budget and decide on municipal expenditures.
Emmanuel Grégorie, number two of the Paris City Council, believes that “nothing legally justifies invoking ‘the guardianship’ of the City of Paris” and ensures that the French capital is “in a perfectly healthy financial and accounting situation located”. .”
Public Accounts Minister Gabriel Attal also described the capital’s financial management as “disastrous” and criticized the fact that there are more officials in Paris City Hall than in the European Commission. Attal believes there is a “frenzied” system of local rents in place in Paris to try to balance the municipal budget, which he says resembles “a Ponzi scheme”, a form of pyramid scheme. Hidalgo announced that he will sue the minister for defamation.
The placing of Paris under state guardianship had already been demanded in 2021 by conservative politician Rachida Dati, mayor of the VII district of the French capital and former minister of Nicolas Sarkozy, and several local associations.
Tensions between the government and the mayor of Paris have increased, mainly due to Hidalgo’s announcement that in 2023 the ‘taxe foncière’ (the property tax, the equivalent of the IBI in Spain) will increase by 52%, making it would go from 13.5% to 20.5% next year. This increase in the Paris IBI should contribute an additional 580 million euros to the municipal treasury.
During the 2020 election campaign for his re-election, San Fernando (Cádiz) native Hidalgo pledged not to raise taxes. But given the capital’s massive debt burden, the socialist mayor was eventually forced to raise property taxes.
The Franco-Spanish policy justifies the increase of the IBI in Paris in the absence of financial compensation from the state and the need to maintain the quality of municipal public services and accelerate the ecological transformation. Hidalgo recalls that property taxes in Paris are the lowest among major cities in the country (41.61% on average) and have not been increased since 2011. On the other hand, Rachida Dati, always highly critical of Hidalgo’s management, described the rise of the IBI as a “robbery” for civilians.
Placing Paris under the protection of the state would be a severe political blow to the socialist’s already deteriorated image. A year and a half after Paris hosts the 2024 Olympics and four years after the 2026 municipal elections, the mayor is not raising her head. Hidalgo suffered a major setback in April’s presidential election. He obtained 1.7% of the vote in the first round, the lowest percentage in the history of the Socialist Party. Only 2.17% of Parisians voted for her.
Many French analysts believe that Attal and Beaune’s attacks on Hidalgo and its alleged budgetary mismanagement anticipate what will be a fierce battle for Paris City Hall in 2026. Macron’s two ministers are rumored to be dreaming of taking Hidalgo up. follow up on the post. The battle for the 2026 municipal elections has begun in Paris.
Source: La Verdad
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