Initiated by a symbolic gesture (the offices of the Metropole will be moved to the Nice City Hall) suggesting that Christian Estrosi will remain the “real” mayor of Nice and his future successor will act as his spokesperson, the session continued with the traditional discussion on budgetary guidelines for the 2016 fiscal year.
As a seasoned politician, Olivier Bettati was quick to sense the maneuver, but should we really be surprised by his surprise?
What was he thinking? That Christian Estrosi would cut ties with his electoral base? It was clear from the start that, beyond administrative formalities, the mayor of Nice would maintain control over the city.
Combining the offices of the mayor of Nice and the President of the Metropole in the same physical location may not be the most elegant decision, but it allows for the necessary interconnection to maintain the dual role. Yes, it has a slight resemblance to South American caudillos, but it’s so effective…
Lacking figures, as Pythagoras used to say, “in numbers, there is everything,” the discussion focused on principles and trends. Everyone shared their opinions in an atmosphere of pure cordiality: the usual silence of the majority’s steadfast supporters was met with routine criticisms from the opposition.
The atmosphere was more akin to a discussion in a living room rather than a showdown in an arena.
Returning to the metropolitan budget and its main components, nothing new under the bright sun outside the CUM: Christian Estrosi is holding course with no increase in taxes (truthfully, they increase due to the expansion of the tax base, not by raising the tax percentage), controlling operating expenses (more marginally than deeply), and investments aimed at creating jobs and wealth to foster a virtuous economic cycle.
For now, we are in the first phase, that of articulations and implementation, and only time will tell whether the chosen options were the right ones.
For the moment, there is no reason to boast: the few dozen start-ups housed in the Eco-Vallée structures are insignificant compared to the 50,000 new businesses founded annually in the San Francisco Bay Area alone.
As an avid traveler, Christian Estrosi might consider taking a look at what’s happening around the Technion in Haifa during one of his missions in Israel.
Just to say that even if the path is the right one, international standards require a certain pace to stay in the race: essentially, a good old rock and roll rather than a slow waltz!
Returning to the debate and indicative budget figures, Christian Estrosi emphasized the continuation of cuts in state allocations: this is true, but it’s also true that if a budget of nearly 1 billion in revenues cannot absorb a reduction of almost 10 million, it’s still difficult to claim the accolade of good management!
A helpful and anticipated aid to smooth things out will nonetheless come from the Region: the neo-President asserted his influence, and 30 million in contributions to projects (tram line 2 and the 40-meter road in the Plaine du Var) will be a much-needed help.
Another area that will be explored, with all the energy Christian Estrosi knows how to put into it, is European funding. Within the Region’s initiatives, it’s not hard to imagine that Nice will have its share in terms of benefits.
Another financial asset is the local authority investment support fund endowed with 1 billion. How can we not think that the Metropole won’t be a candidate for some of its ongoing projects?
All of this leads to the conclusion: whether the debt level of this ambitious but costly policy is compatible with repayment capacity or whether, sooner or later, it will drag the finances into a negative spiral.
The president of the Metropole remains decidedly confident: for him, after the peak of 1.45 billion in 2018, a decrease in outstanding debt should begin.
This is not the view of Patrick Allemand (PS) who highlighted the decline in investments and self-financing capacity, burdened by debt repayments. Once again, it is the exorbitant cost of the tram line 2 tunnel that is mainly to blame, according to the opposition member.
Marie Christine Arnautu (FN), “noblesse oblige,” was even more virulent in her intervention, emphasizing the incongruities of budget choices and calling the President of the Metropole a “boaster” and accusing him of “lying about the actual state of the finances.”
For her, “the outstanding debt is astronomical (1.128 billion euros), and the debt-to-income ratio reaches heights well beyond what is usually considered dangerous.”
We await the budget presentation in the coming weeks to better understand, between the truth of the numbers and the propaganda from all sides, the reality.
Of minimal importance and technical nature were the other deliberations.
