The initial 2013 budget was approved by the municipal majority after a lengthy council session. The opposition, despite the inevitable law of numbers that guarantees their defeat, was verbally harsh in their attempt to highlight the flaws and contradictions in the accounting structure and the motivations behind the various choices explained by the Mayor of Nice in his introduction.
But let’s get straight to the figures, which to be honest, had already been anticipated during the budget orientation debate on November 24th.
Moving from orientations to choices, it is noted that the total budget is 760 million euros (an increase compared to 2012: 723 million euros).
Christian Estrosi credited himself with the “zero” tax policy (no increase in local taxes) as well as maintaining investment capacity and reducing debt.
How can this winning strategy be explained?
This is what his main opponent sought to challenge, the president of the Changer d’Ere Group, Patrick Allemand, who wanted to remind everyone how fiscal pressure had been increased by 17% in 2009, which obviously has continued to affect us every year since.
Similarly, the claim from the Mayor of Nice that the property tax paid by the people of Nice is among the cheapest compared to other similarly sized cities is countered by the alternative calculation of the average tax per inhabitant, which, contrary to the previous claim, ranks Nice as the most expensive city.
Other management parameters are considered “worrisome” by the leader of the socialists: the debt per inhabitant and the self-financing capacity per inhabitant, both showing a regressive situation.
All these reasons led to the negative vote of the Changer d’Ere group, which was joined by communist councilors.
The municipal majority provided the necessary votes for the adoption of the resolution.
The end-of-year festivities can now begin…
