During this session on June 14, the city of Nice defended its 2022 accounts. A heated exchange followed between the majority and the opposition, which pointed the finger at the city’s over-indebtedness.
“It’s up to us to close the books for 2022,” begins Christian Estrosi. The 2022 accounts, a consequence of the year 2021, are introduced by the mayor with a reminder of the health context of the time, and a mention of “an inflation that is not without consequence.” However, he praises the city’s attractiveness and the positive trajectory of its economic recovery. “2022 showed us that we created the conditions for our economy to take off dramatically.”
In the City Council chamber on June 14, the opposition’s obsession was to understand how many years it would take for the city to free itself from debt. Anticipating the potential direction of the debate, the day before, the City invited the press with the presence of Magali Altounian to “take stock of the good keeping of the accounts.” Attacking the city’s debt is nothing new; since the beginning of the year, Christian Estrosi’s opponents have accused him of plunging the city into increasingly significant debt.
52.8 Years of Debt Reduction?
Indeed, the opposition relies on figures revealed by the Gazette des communes on January 18, 2023. In this report, which focuses on municipal activities in 2021, Nice ranks first among the most indebted cities in France. Its capacity to clear its debt was then estimated at 52.8 years. When the number of years needed to repay the debt with gross savings exceeds the threshold of 15 years, the community goes from “worrying” status to “in the red.”
Thus, Gaëlle Frontoni, a former majority member now close to Éric Ciotti, relied on these figures to open the debate, even before the presentation of the administrative account. “Concerned,” the LR municipal councillor asked for explanations from the accounts administration in a series of questions. “What is true, what is real? Are we above the critical threshold at 15.5 years of debt? Or are we at 52 years, as can be read from the Finance Directorate’s documents?”
Gaëlle Frontoni’s intervention is more of a “political debate,” annoyed Christian Estrosi, but nevertheless, the public finance administrator wished to provide a response. The technocrat spoke of “misinformation” on the part of the opponent.
A Positive Assessment
“After a two-year health crisis that profoundly impacted our financial situation, the year 2022 marks a return of economic activity close to that of 2019,” rejoices Magali Altounian, detailing the administrative account. The mayor’s delegate for Finance continues: “This recovery in 2022, though promising, was accompanied by a return of inflation due to the geopolitical context with an average rate of 5.2%.”
Therefore, the outcome for 2022 is positive despite “these challenges,” with no deficit. The surplus is more than 5 million euros. She announces operating revenues amounting to 594 million, an increase of 5.6% compared to the previous year, and “controlled borrowings.”
“A Report ‘Everything Is Fine, Madam Marquise’ Mode”
“Unsurprisingly, your report on the administrative account of the main budget is in ‘Everything is fine, Madam Marquise’ mode,” accuses Jean-Christophe Picard, an ecologist elected official, accusing the majority of living “in an alternative reality.” Some multimillion-euro investments by the city scandalize him. He brings up again the destruction of the TNN, and the Palais Acropolis which his political group is categorically opposed to.
He then compares the mayor not to a “good father of the family,” but to a “spoiled child who enjoys breaking his toys.” He also reproaches the mayor for a 43% increase in per capita debt since his election in 2008. “You can hold all the press conferences you want, you won’t avoid the weight of words and the shock of ratios, Nice is an over-indebted city.”
“Nice Has Never Been Better!”
“You can repeat a lie three hundred times, it won’t make it a truth,” retorts Christian Estrosi. “Today, it’s Bercy that responds to you, that tells you things, and they are indisputable.” He reminds him, as well as his opponents, that they all participated in the decisions that led to these “lost revenues” they blame him for. Christian Estrosi insists on these co-decisions made “unanimously.”
He adds: “Our trademark is action, and consequently, these are significant budgets.” In this sense, the municipality recalls its strategy: it has chosen to invest through borrowing rather than increasing taxes to “not weigh on the purchasing power” of the people of Nice. “We are in the least taxed city in France,” rejoices the mayor. “Nice has never been better!”, he concludes.
