First session (remote) of the year for the metropolitan councilors, who welcomed two new members, the mayors of Drap and Châteauneuf-Villevielle, who joined the Metropolis on January 1st.
Christian Estrosi took the opportunity to announce the reassignment of the current DGS Lauriano Azinheirinha, destined for other roles (economic attractiveness agency?).
The highlight of the day was the debate on budget orientations for 2022.
“We present in this Council the budget orientations for 2022. A proactive and ambitious budget with nearly 346 million euros in investments. Territorial solidarity, a founding principle of our Metropolis, will continue to be one of the pillars of our orientations,” the President of the Metropolis began, before reaffirming his two well-known strategic axes: the continuation of economic revival, support for purchasing power, and ecological transition.
Christian Estrosi once again emphasized the importance placed on metropolitan solidarity: “it will be demonstrated through investment in our municipalities, support for their local actions, as well as our solidarity efforts towards our citizens.” Many testimonials from the leaders of small valley municipalities, the most directly affected, confirmed the value of this action.
The metropolitan President was supported by his financial delegate Philippe Pradal, whose expertise matches the relevance of his explanations, who provided a good explanation of the massive investments (€414 million if considering additional budgets), their positive impact in terms of work for companies and their employees, and consequently their economic return that creates a virtuous circle and ensures a good balance between expenses and income, with positive effects on the debt, its management facilitated by rather favorable rates (1.70%).
All this, while confirming that in terms of taxes and pricing, rates will remain unchanged in 2022, and control of operating costs remains the questionable counterpart to enable these investments.
In response to criticisms from the ecologist Fabrice Decoupigny, who particularly addressed issues such as the insufficiency of social housing and energy renovation, Christian Estrosi’s response was clear: “in terms of accelerating ecological transition and implementing our Climate Plan, we will maintain high investments and strong choices,” which also include the requalification of the Côte d’Azur Habitat housing and a 10% increase in permeable land in the Var plain.
