This morning, the Metropolitan Council will meet again shortly after the previous session during which the vote concerning the property tax on buildings had caused turmoil within the majority, leading to the de facto creation of a dissident group by elected officials associated with Eric Ciotti’s faction.
Seven mayors or delegates spoke out against the proposed resolution.
A fissure that allowed the opposition parties to raise their voices: the socialists to denounce a debt that, according to them, would hinder investments in the years to come; the National Front members threatened to demand a referendum on this new tax.
The large majority gathered around Christian Estrosi will have to demonstrate its cohesion on this occasion, which, if lacking, could begin to pose problems and sow doubt within their ranks.
Will other mayors join the “rebels” led by Xavier Beck, mayor of Cap d’Ail and First Vice-President of the Departmental Council, and Christelle D’Intorni, mayor of Rimplas and a young advocate of this “movement”?
In this respect, the president of the Metropolis will counter his detractors with the schedule of amounts invested since 2012 across all member municipalities and the analytical statement for each of the 49 member municipalities within the 2018-2020 multi-year growth and employment plan.
This little reminder aims to highlight to the mayors of small municipalities how they have been and will continue to benefit from territorial “solidarity” and that they have every interest in closing ranks in response to these criticisms, which are more political than technical.
In fact, Eric Ciotti and his group have taken advantage of this decision (a new tax made necessary by the state of the Metropolis’s finances) to step in and create discomfort within the majority, officializing the “pro-Ciotti” group in the name of an “anti-tax” faction.
Nothing new under the sun; we have already seen this during Hollande’s quinquennium with the destabilizing actions of the “rebels.”
Additionally, Saint-Laurent du Var and Cagnes sur Mer, the hinterland municipalities, and the Carros-Le Broc industrial zone will be the main beneficiaries. The launch of feasibility studies for the extension of the tramway over the Var River is a gesture that can only unite the elected officials of this part of the territory around Christian Estrosi.
