The champagne for the New Year’s Eve wishes will have been well deserved after the usual marathon of this session mainly dedicated to the 2015 budget: The fact is that while Christian Estrosi consistently and somewhat successfully practices running (in the senior category), for other elected officials, this is not always the case, and some somewhat lost looks made it clear that psycho-physical stamina had reached its limits.
Yet, the first deputy in charge of finances, Philippe Pradal, rigorously gave the “attack,” as they say in musical language, with an adagio con brio that left room to hope for an even more melodious continuation.
But the interventions of the opposition and their not always really pertinent criticisms (… a difficult job being an opponent!), faced the counter of the choir of deputies for a “magnificat” and a plea from Nice in which it was a question of the anti-European stance of Mrs. Arnautu’s National Front, the disaster of the socialist policy dear to Patrick Allemand (a tiresome refrain since May 7, 2012), and the lack of substance in the criticisms from Gaël Nofri’s Independents concerning communication and representation expenses (“you who photocopy at city hall for the propaganda of your group” sanctioned the Mayor).
The pinnacle came when Olivier Bettati had the provocative word by suggesting, for example, to conform to the practices of the President of the General Council (whom, in his speech, Christian Estrosi referred to as “my former chief of staff” proposed by him to an institutional role).
What does all this have to do with the City of Nice’s budget?
Not to mention the endless comparisons with other French cities of similar size to claim to be the best in a sort of virtual and fundamentally political competition. Is there a real interest for a person from Nice to know if they pay more or less taxes than a citizen of Lille or Bordeaux? A new city for comparison that comes alongside the often-cited example of the northern metropolis.
Regarding the budget, we’ll have to stick to these few figures: The budget is balanced at 717.6 million euros (575.2 million euros in operations and 142.3 million euros in investment, of which 60.5 million euros are in equipment).
The total debt at the end of 2014 is 382.3 million euros (excluding Allianz Riviera PPP of 123.8 million euros), 14 million less compared to 2013. A level of debt compatible with the cost of its repayment service, given the favorable ongoing rates.
Christian Estrosi also claims the application of one of the highest overall discount rates: 65%. However, the general discount rate decreases from 15% to 10%, meaning an increase of 5%.
And finally, if one were to summarize the interventions of the opposition:
Patrick Allemand denounces “a strong increase in local taxation and public policies that abandon local policies.”
For Marie-Christine Arnautu: “Mammoth of functioning, hyper taxation, Himalayan debt: Here is the infernal assessment, yours,” she said addressing the Mayor of Nice.
Gaël Nofri pointed the finger at communication expenses: “the communication budget will continue to rise to reach 4.2 million euros.”
See you next year…
