The cut of at least five billion euros that the French state intends to inflict on local authorities in 2025 as part of the new government's planned budget has not gone down well. In recent days, town councils, inter-communal councils, département or county councils, and regional councils have been united in their criticism of the proposed cuts by Michel Barnier's government, which they believe will have an even greater financial impact than that forecast – closer to eight or nine billion euros than five billion. As the National Assembly starts debating the government's budget proposals in the finance bill this week, local authorities are themselves anxiously preparing their own budgets for 2025.
Three mayors have spoken to Mediapart about their concerns, their 'red lines' over what they will not cut, and the practical consequences these funding decisions will have for their residents. Ali Rabeh is the mayor of Trappes, a town of around 33,000 residents in the western suburbs of Paris, and the national coordinator of the leftwing Génération.s party. Jeanne Barseghian is the mayor of the city of Strasbourg in the north-east of France and a member of the green Les Écologistes party. Politically unaffiliated, Michel Fournier has been the mayor of the small village of Voivres in north-east France since 1989 and has chaired the rural mayors association, the Association des Maires Ruraux de France (AMRF), since 2020.
Enlargement : Illustration 1
Ali Rabeh, mayor of Trappes: “In our budgets, every line corresponds to a public service”
At the moment, I’m in a state of denial. Or rather, one of hope. I sincerely hope that Parliament and the government will reverse the cuts that have been announced. For weeks now, I’ve been telling my team: “If we have to save a million euros, I don’t know what I can cut.” And now it’s happening: the finance bill deprives Trappes of 1.125 million euros. For us, that’s huge.
A million euros is roughly what it costs to provide the school support system we set up in 2020. It’s a free public service for all the children of Trappes. It was the first initiative we implemented after my election, and it was what people most wanted during the campaign. Can you imagine what that represents for us? The day I give up on that is the day I resign as mayor of Trappes. I was elected on the basis of that.
At the town hall, we’re in the middle of budget planning. We’re having meeting after meeting, reviewing plans before making decisions, sector by sector. With a million euros less, we could apply across-the-board cuts: trim a bit from everything with the same percentage reduction across the board. But that will be very difficult for us.
We've been making savings for several years now. We monitor every euro spent, and we scrutinise every retirement to see how we can replace them... It’s not my money, I’m extremely careful about how we use it. During the recent cold snap, we didn’t heat public buildings, much to the consternation of our staff. If there are people at [the Ministry of Finance and Economy] who think we’re having a good time with public money, they need to change jobs quickly.
There’s no more “fat” to cut. Asking municipal services to tighten their belts even more is like pulling on an already frayed rope. These aren’t decisions we take lightly.
The second budgetary option available to us is to put on hold some of the projects we’ve implemented in recent years. Let me give you another example: recreational trips. We have a very strong policy in this area: a thousand people from Trappes go on holiday each year for a minimal cost, around ten euros a week. A huge number of people have gone on holiday for the first time in their lives thanks to this initiative. We could adjust the price or the number of places. But that would really get to me.
Elected representatives were applauded during Covid and the urban unrest. Then they’re told they’re spending too much and will have to cut their budgets.
Going without things means giving up everyday public services, things that are very tangible for people. In Trappes, we’ve also set up a public service for learning French. We support 150 people with language courses and an introduction to the Republic's institutions... It’s been so successful that we have a waiting list as long as your arm, and ministers and prefects are urging us to expand the programme.
Yet integration isn’t a municipal responsibility. It’s a sovereign function that the state should handle. But if I don’t do it, who will? At a time when republican integration is talked about non-stop, we recognise that these public policies are valuable. By imposing such budget cuts, the government is forcing us to raise doubts over programmes like these.
Finally, all mayors in France are facing an investment problem. We need to upgrade our facilities to meet thermal efficiency standards. Between now and 2032, there’s a bottleneck looming, a real pinch point. With a million euros less, I have to spread certain projects over time. But delaying work has a very real impact on people! It’s the school headteacher whose ceiling leaks with every drop of rain to whom we have to say: “Sorry, but it won’t be done in 2025.”
For associations, for staff, for the education community, these are some very, very tough decisions. We ask elected officials to perform miracles, relying on the role of associations and their volunteers. They were applauded during the Covid crisis and urban riots [editor's note, in 2023]. Then they’re told they’re spending too much and must cut their budgets. To the state, I say: how do you expect us to manage? Do you want to cut us to the bone? In a municipal budget, there’s nothing that isn’t concrete. Every line [in our budget] corresponds to a service provided to the residents.
Jeanne Barseghian, mayor of Strasbourg: “Come what may, I'm not going to close nursery places!”
Since my election in 2020, we've had to deal with a number of crises, the main ones being the pandemic and the energy crisis. All of this has had a significant impact on our human resources, our public services, and our finances... Each time, we have absorbed the crises without flinching, standing on the front line to ensure continuity of services, to strengthen social cohesion during difficult times, or to adapt our cities to climate change.
And what do we see today? The state is making us responsible for the country’s budgetary situation, and we're being asked to make enormous budgetary sacrifices. There's a lot of talk about the 2% cut imposed by the state, but that's not all of it. It's a real cocktail effect! There's also the freezing of the general operating grant (DGF) [editor's note, the operational money provided by central government to local authorities], the reduction in the VAT compensation fund, and the rise in tax on energy ... For us, this means at least nine million euros less in the municipal budget.
All of this is happening at a time when social needs are skyrocketing, with growing inequalities and poverty, and when climate change demands urgent investment. Instead of standing alongside us, the state has just added to our burden. This is despite the fact that in recent years it has moved strongly towards recentralisation, which has significantly reduced our financial independence.
If we cut back on our public services, what will that lead to tomorrow? A fractured social contract? An even more strained relationship of trust between residents and politics? Rising tensions?
Our elected officials and services are obviously working flat out at the moment. At this time of year, each department, along with its councillors, submits its projected expenditure for 2025. We look at the overall picture, then we have to make decisions for the budget to be voted on in March.
To be honest, there comes a point when you don't know how to manage any more. I refuse to slash everyday public services. The people of Strasbourg should not have to pay for the budget chaos caused by the state. The nine million euros we're being asked to save corresponds to our entire early learning budget. Come what may, I'm not going to close nursery places!
If we cut back on our public services, what will that lead to tomorrow? A fractured social contract? An even more strained relationship of trust between residents and politics? Tensions, or even forms of rebellion in certain neighbourhoods? The consequences of these decisions will also be economic: 75% to 80% of our investments go to local businesses. By reducing our scope, there is a real risk of job losses in the region, particularly in the construction and public works sector.
We haven't yet reached the stage of having to abandon projects. We're relying on the debate in Parliament to ease the burden on us. In the meantime, we're reflecting and looking for savings everywhere. It might seem trivial to you, but for example, when it comes to turning the heating back on in public buildings, we're waiting until the last possible moment. We had originally planned to do so at the end of the October half-term break, but we're trying to hold off for a few more days, except in schools and nurseries. We're tightening our belts wherever we can. It might seem like nothing, but when you add up all these small savings it can save us a few hundred thousand euros.
As for the rest, it's like trying to square the circle. What do we cut? I refuse to abandon investment projects related to mobility, greening the city, or improving the thermal efficiency of buildings. These are the things that will make the city liveable in the years to come! So, we're considering options that are the least painful for people, decisions that don't jeopardise the future. We might have to forgo certain events. I'm not resigned to having to do this, but I can't hide the fact that I'm very worried.
Michel Fournier, mayor of the small village of Voivres in north-east France and president of the association of rural mayors: “What's irritating is the reduction in the green fund.”
I was with Laurent Saint-Martin, the minister for public accounts, today [editor’s note, October 17th]. The government's message is clear: everyone will have to contribute to making savings. As mayors we represent the state, so we will do our bit. We can't always be against it. However, the message from Bruno Le Maire [editor's note, the previous finance and economy minister] was very, very badly received by elected representatives: according to him, it's because of local authorities that the state's in debt!
But the reality is that each year we approve operating budgets that balance. It’s quite simple: the law requires us to! I don’t see how we’re contributing to the deficit. When we borrow, it’s for investment projects that the state asks us to undertake. You can’t exactly say that Bruno Le Maire left on a high note.
Our local authorities will have important choices to make. But the outlook is not very bright. What's irritating is the reduction in the green fund [editor's note, the fonds vert is the main funding source to help local authorities manage environmental transition], which is losing one billion euros. This is a scheme that matters to all local authorities, regardless of their size. For little towns like ours, it was particularly important. It was a strong signal from the government in favour of the ecological transition, showing that this is a key issue.
The regions and départements are our main partners. We must be very careful not to suffocate them.
In many small communes across France, this fund has enabled public buildings to be renovated, others to be insulated, it has stopped land being built over, and has enabled energy-saving measures to be used. With these cuts, all of this will become much more difficult. In my area, the Vosges [editor's note, a département in north-east France] it’s paradoxical: we’re being told not to use gas any more, but we’re being stripped of the funds that allowed us to install biomass boilers. So what do we do now?
With these budget cuts, communes will also think twice before committing to the construction or renovation of public facilities. These are the projects with the highest costs. We should expect widespread delays on this.
In rural areas, for example, there has been an exponential increase in the number of artificial football pitches: we’re transforming old grass pitches, which are very difficult to maintain, into synthetic ones that local associations favour. With the current budget situation, this trend is going to slow down. We’ll be playing on the “old-style” pitches for a few more years.
Another major concern for rural communes is the savings being demanded of the regions and départements. These are our main partners. We need to be very careful not to suffocate them. For instance, the renovation of the local road network poses huge problems for local authorities. Without the support of the départements and regions, mayors can’t do much in this area. And an unmaintained road network leads to a very tangible deterioration for people.
It’s the mayors, who are at the end of the line, who will bear the brunt of the discontent and the consequences of these budget cuts. Residents who are frustrated by this or that decision will make sure we know about it. All this comes in a context of growing demands on local elected representatives.
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- The original French version of this article can be found here.
English version by Michael Streeter