Before presenting it this Monday at the Metropolitan Council, Christian Estrosi couldn’t help but savor this small triumph, corroborated by the figures and by a letter from the Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, which confirms its veracity (“the State’s seal” – said Christian Estrosi with a sly smile).
The public presentation of the 2018 administrative accounts was an opportunity to respond to the insidious and sometimes fierce criticisms of the metropolitan opposition concerning the debt of the metropolitan community and to send a message to those who keep criticizing him, questioning his management skills.
Is the grasshopper not one after all?
“I leave the political posturing to others. I prefer to let the accounting sheets speak for themselves,” was the smiling comment of someone savoring a small comeback.
It was also an opportunity to take stock (“an assessment” for Christian Estrosi) of 10 years of tenure at the head of what was once a community of municipalities, then an agglomeration, before becoming a metropolis that claims to have invested 2 billion in the local economy during this period (49 municipalities, of which 41 are rural), with a desire for innovation and a spirit of solidarity (as noted by the mayor of Mairie, the small commune with 104 inhabitants).
Here are some key figures:
– Debt reduction: 8.3 years of debt capacity (required number: 12 years)
– Operating expenses (2018 over 2017): -0.17% against 1.35% permitted by the Contract signed with the State (Nice and the Metropolis had signed the pact with the Government, like 280 out of 320 local authorities with more than 50,000 inhabitants)
– Investments (in euros): 140 million/year for the period 2018/2020: spent in 2018: 139 million (59% allocated to the local economy)
In his “lectio magistrais,” with all (false?) modesty, Christian Estrosi also reminded that the people of Nice and the metropolitan residents can enjoy stable taxation, that Nice is one of the least taxed metropolises, and that property values have increased by 10% in 10 years.
