Jacques Peyrat – Republican Entente – Former Mayor of Nice:
When I took office as the Mayor of Nice in 1995, the prefect wrote to me four months later to warn me about a catastrophic financial policy. At that time, he indicated that the total debt was 6 billion and a few hundred million francs. He listed the city of Nice among the cities genuinely threatened with being placed under supervision.
My team and I paid off more than half of the debt and we carried out over 10 billion francs worth of works over 13 years. The major projects were completed, the black spots were resolved, and all that remained for me was to finish what I had planned so that we would not increase taxes and avoid excessive investment spending, but Christian Estrosi prevented me from doing so…
Increasing local taxes is inhumane. I did not want to do it during my terms because I realized we couldn’t ask households for extra tax effort. With the current economic crisis, it is madness to increase taxes by 15% more. It’s complete and total madness, and I oppose this decision.
Patrick Mottard – The Left Otherwise:
The financial audit of the City of Nice published on December 11 matches point by point with my analysis expressed over three years at the Nice City Council and during the municipal campaign:
– unjustified and uncontrolled growth of civil servant numbers,
– drop in self-financing capacity,
– return to indebtedness.
At the time, Mayor Jacques Peyrat, whose management was praised by Patrick Allemand, did not take our warnings into account. Later, the three candidates of the second round made costly proposals in inherently demagogic programs.
Today, we see that the “Nice Otherwise” list I led was right to include this difficult financial situation in its proposals.
Patrick Allemand – Socialist Party:
Christian Estrosi can only be lying when he says he was unaware of the financial situation of the city of Nice, even though he has several deputies in his team who were serving while Jacques Peyrat was mayor.
He promised everything to everyone, disregarding the most basic budgetary rules because Christian Estrosi always wants more than others.
4% of the people of Nice believed it, and 100% got caught! Because today, it’s them who will have to put their hands in their pockets to pay for the mayor of Nice’s grandiose projects.
Amid a purchasing power crisis, and when housing costs are higher here than elsewhere, the people of Nice receive a third blow from Christian Estrosi with a record 15% tax increase, which for an average household will represent about 100 euros per year.
It’s enormous. As enormous as the deceit on which he was elected.
Lydia Schénardi – National Front:
At a time when restrictions are imposed on everyone, it seems that elected officials, especially local leaders, should lower their ambitions.
It’s not a 15% increase that the people of Nice expect, but a significant reduction in taxation, a reduction already promised during the national electoral campaign for the presidency.
Indeed, “electoral promises only bind those who receive them!”
There is always a way to reduce a municipality’s expenses, simply at the level of what is not essential, such as expenses for prestige and communication, and also a slowdown in investments.
Let’s hope that this poisoned gift is reviewed and better packaged because the reasons given for such an increase are not credible…
Jean-Christophe Picard – Radical Left Party:
This increase is unacceptable!
First of all, it is worth recalling that Christian Estrosi could not have been unaware
of the city’s financial situation, since he chose to surround himself with
eight former municipal councilors or deputies of Jacques Peyrat.
Moreover, the advent of inter-municipality (creation of the agglomeration community) and its rise (transformation into an urban community) leads to an increasingly significant transfer of competencies from the city to another level. Consequently, the city’s expenses will
decrease… Logically, it should be a substantial decrease in municipal taxes being announced. In any case, this “spend less to pay more” is quite singular!
Finally, it is particularly shocking to learn that the people of Nice will have to
pay more, even as Christian Estrosi has just recruited,
within his office, Gaston Franco who will receive a monthly salary of… 7625 €!
Instead of focusing on Peyrat’s management, it would be wise to launch, without
delay, an audit of Estrosi’s management!
Robert Injey & Emmanuelle Gaziello – Communist Party:
Christian Estrosi, a “declared enemy” of taxes? Yes, when it comes to defending the interests of the wealthiest by implementing the tax shield.
But in line with the neoliberal policies that have miserably failed, he raises local taxes, the most inequitable taxes, by 15%.
Pretending to ignore, in an unconvincing way, the reality of the city’s financial situation, the deputy-mayor takes the audits as a pretext to announce this tightening of the belt.
A tightening that not only brings a tax increase but also a significant reduction in investment amounts, which will result in a questioning of the realization of local facilities and a degradation of services provided to the people of Nice.
Like the financial market bubble, Christian Estrosi, after months spent surfing the virtual world of promises, has just “discovered” the reality of the numbers. Once again, as with the financial crisis, the people are being asked to pay!
