“When we were told that the price of electricity was going to increase three or four times, we couldn’t believe it… Yes, we are always waiting for the last moment to wake up, the figures announced were so mind-blowing that we were said it was not possible. But the worst happened, and Guy Paris, mayor of Sagy, a small town in Val-d’Oise, and author of these sentences, had to bring out the heavy artillery to save his traders. He will offer six months’ rent to his butcher and baker whose bills have exploded, according to information gathered by 20 minutes with the chosen one, confirming information from France Bleu.
The butcher’s electricity consumption has gone from 500 to 1,000 euros per month since August, in a context where customers, who are also tightening their belts, are becoming rarer. He fired his son in September, according to the mayor. The baker sees his bill multiplied by 2.5 to 5,000 euros per month in total. He fires a saleswoman and is perhaps about to do it for a pastry chef. Not to mention the rise in raw materials.
A “primordial” rescue
State aid will help, but not enough. The mayor of this municipality of a thousand souls has done the calculation, the baker will save at most only 1,200 euros, he will therefore have 1,800 euros left over from the 3,000 euros of additional cost per month. This rent exemption, a total of 500 euros per month for each business for six months, was therefore necessary. There is no question of letting two businesses “created from scratch” in 2003 and 2007, in the words of the mayor, take flight when the town hall decided to buy premises and fit them out to facilitate their installation. They have been in place for 20 and 16 years.
For the mayor, this will make a hole of 6,000 euros less in revenue, knowing that the town hall’s energy bill will already increase by 25,000 euros in 2023 to heat its premises and those of the two schools in the village. But, loose Guy Paris, “we considered that the rescue of our two businesses was essential”. The mayor now hopes that the state will step up its efforts for small businesses.