The distribution of the wind tax between the municipalities concerned by the first offshore wind farm in France does not at all suit the mayor of Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique). They are thirteen to have to share each year about 4 million euros paid by the park. Each municipality receives a share of the pie according to the size of its population. But an amendment voted in the National Assembly transforms this new recipe into grimace soup for Saint-Nazaire: second homes are now taken into account in the calculation.
“It’s an injustice, a gift to elected officials on the right”, storms David Samzun, mayor (PS) of Saint-Nazaire, a city which has only 5% of second homes. The new method of calculation, according to him, would deprive his city of 20% of revenue while its neighbor La Baule would receive 20% more. Is it an “arrangement between right-wing friends and girlfriends” made on the back of the industrial city, a “bonus for second homes” as David Samzun thinks?
“It was never a La Baule/Saint-Nazaire issue, but an issue so that the smallest municipalities, such as Batz-sur-Mer, which received almost nothing with the old method of calculation, did not have to suffer the double penalty: the visual impact and no economic benefit ”, tempers Franck Louvrier, mayor (LR) of La Baule.
The two mayors co-signed a letter addressed to the President of the Republic which indicated that Saint-Nazaire should keep “the amount of compensation calculated initially”. “We obtained a first advance with this new method of calculation, obtain the second by renegotiating the financial envelope with EDF, points out Franck Louvrier. That’s where we need to focus our energy. David Samzun, who appeals to the government, says he is ready to go before the Council of State.