The purpose of the mission of the Court of Auditors, commissioned by the Senate, was to reflect on the evolution of local finances, a politically sensitive subject which gives rise to regular skirmishes between the executive, the oppositions and the local communities. And this is particularly the case today, when the National Assembly has begun examining the draft budget for 2023.
The boss of the Court of Auditors, Pierre Moscovici, also took the opportunity to warn the opposition, which rejected the public finance programming bill. “We need this multi-year vision”he insisted. “I worry about the possibility of non-existence” of such a law, he continued, specifying that this “would deprive us of an extremely useful anchor”. Because, he also warned, “all administrations, all, must take part in the reduction of the deficit”.
It was therefore with a certain sense of urgency that the first vice-president spoke. The current political tensions around local finances are part of a particular context: “The return of inflationnoted Mr. Moscovici, creates a tension and a new concern on the budgets of the communities. »
Admittedly, he underlined that local finances were in good health: local authorities achieved a higher level of savings than before the crisis (41.4 billion euros) and a surplus of 4.7 billion euros at the end of 2021. But the return of inflation and the rise in the index point for civil servants will “probably change this situation”.
Above all, the system is out of breath. He “has shown its limits”said the head of the Court of Auditors. “This financing system is unanimously criticized” : It is “unintelligible” for local officials and taxpayers, with “widening inequalities between territories”. And “the financial autonomy of local authorities is progressing”, local elected officials have also “the perception of a loss of control over their resources”. The system of allocations allocated by the State appears “complex, unpredictable, without sufficiently correcting resource gaps”.
Align resources and missions
In short, the device is today “too old”at point “harming local democracy”said Mr. Moscovici, emphasizing “the need for reform”. Seized by the Senate, the Court of Auditors therefore proposes “a few ideas, benchmarks, principles to nurture [sa] reflection “. She explains that one can envisage what she calls “three polar options” theoretical: either exclusive financing by local taxes; either by national taxes; or by grants from the State.
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