Council of Paris: boycott of LR, assumed property tax … relive the first morning of debates

Patrick Bloche, Deputy Mayor of the City announces the suspension of the meeting. Debates are due to resume at 2:45 p.m. The presence of elected LRs at this afternoon’s session has not yet been confirmed.

“The right would do better to sweep in front of its door. Because if the property tax increases to 20% in Paris, it is 56% in Angers, 55% in Amiens, 54% in Le Havre. What do all these cities have in common? They are led by the right,” he wrote on Twitter.

The first debates coming to an end, the mayor of Paris thanked “the two opposition groups which participated in the debates”, unlike the LRs and their leader, Rachida Dati.

“Thank you in the end for not accepting either the trumpization of our debates here in this assembly, nor even the policy of the empty chair which does not lead to much”, proclaims the one who chairs the Council.

Maya Akkari, elected from the 18th century from the Paris en Commun group, follows the line put forward by the mayor of Paris. “Let’s face it, we are not being helped that much by the current government, which is not repaying its debts,” she insists. She continues: “He is not always attentive to the territories and, instead of supporting them, seeks to destabilize them”, regretting in particular that he rejected the proposal to increase tourist taxes on the 5-star palaces of the capital.

“We make with you, Madam Mayor, the choice to increase the property tax. We can afford it in view of its relatively low level” compared to other municipalities, she recalled.

As a reminder, it was through this tweet published last week that Anne Hidalgo announced the increase in the property tax. “We have no other choice,” she wrote.

The 7 point increase in the tax rate of property taxwill increase it from 13.5% to 20.5%.

“It is the Parisians who will pay,” castigated Rachida Dati at the start of the session. “We refuse to be accomplices in the robbery of Parisians that you are still going to commit,” she told the mayor of Paris.

A few moments after the speech of their leader, Rachida Dati, who denounced in particular the “robbery” of Parisians, the elected representatives of the Changer Paris group left the hemicycle.

Agnes Evrenelected from the 15th arrondissement, denounces a “masquerade of budgetary debate”.

“The City has continued to spend at will, without the quality of life of Parisians being significantly improved”, regrets the mayor of the 5th arrondissement. Florence Berthout (ex-LR, elected Independents and Progressives) castigates in turn “the financial deterioration of the city”.

“Have you planned to reduce the frantic race to spend to break this deadly spiral? “. She regrets the lack of structural reform of the budget.

They must be “reconquered for the benefit of users and agents”, insists Raphaëlle Primet, elected communist, which wants to use subcontracting as little as possible. “This is the case for the cleanliness or even the cleaning of our premises,” she says.

She recalls that the City is one of the largest employers in Ile-de-France, with more than 55,000 agents.

In front of a phenomenon that is increasingly present in student cities, including Paris Nathalie Maquoi, elected ecologist, proposes for 2023 a “coordination of public policies with other actors in favor of the fight against student precariousness”. She asks “to allocate the necessary means” and to help young people who are not necessarily aware of all the aid that can be allocated to them.

On energy poverty and because of “serious and numerous alerts”, elected environmentalists propose an “increase in city aid”, without waiting for the stage of unpaid bills.

All the elected Changer Paris (LR) continue to point the finger at the budgetary policy initiated by Anne Hidalgo. On Twitter, they broadcast the photo of leaflets which repeat their demands and ensure that the City’s debt has increased by “116% increase in debt since 2013”, taking into account capitalized rents.

Rudolph Granier, elected from the 18th arrondissement, writes that his group “refuses to witness the bloodletting of Parisians”. Aurelien Veron recalls having “received the report [budgétaire] official (succinct) too late to do our work as elected officials”.

Guest of the morning of France Bleu Paris this Tuesday, Ian Brossat ensures that the increase in the property tax remains “the only possible lever”. The deputy mayor in charge of housing continues: “the property tax is not paid by the majority of Parisians (…) because it is paid by the owners”, recalling that there are a third of owners in the capital. .

It “is much lower in Paris than in the vast majority of cities in France”, he assures.

“Madame Dati could also have told us which prices she wanted to increase”, continues Rémi Féraud, elected PS of the 10th arrondissement, referring to the price of the canteen. “Is she content to repeat the elements of Macronist language? “, he continues.

“Now it was up to him to speak,” continues Anne Hidalgo. The seats of the LR group remain empty.

“What we have been denouncing since 2020 and well before, (…) is the budgetary headlong rush that is leading Paris to bankruptcy”, she recalls, assuring that “she betrayed all her words”.

“The increase in the property tax allows you to balance the budget and find room for maneuver”, disputes Maud Gatelpresident of the centrist group at the Council of Paris, insufficient according to her.

“Uncontrolled expenses, massive recourse to borrowing, accounting artifice to complete your budget each year (…) leave no other choice” than to increase taxation, including property tax, regrets the elected official.

“I regret that we cannot have the presentation of another project, another path”, concludes the mayor, recalling the absence of LR advisers in front of her. She is applauded by her majority.

“We exempt fragile households 100%,” she continued, referring in particular to those over 75 or those who receive the means-tested disabled adult allowance.

Anne Hidalgo recognizes it, she had “undertaken not to increase the taxes of Parisians”. “I couldn’t keep that commitment,” she admitted.

Property tax will experience an “increase of 7 points”, she confirms, referring to “a tool of solidarity between Parisians”. “We will not be able to live in a city where the temperatures envisaged will reach 50 degrees”, she insists.

“We are making a choice: that of refusing to degrade our public services”, assumes Anne Hidalgo, when defending her draft budget. “Closing our swimming pools”, “reducing the number of places in the crèche “”, “welcome fewer children in our PMI”, “increase the price of the canteen”… So many devices which the mayor of Paris does not want to touch.

Anne Hidalgo evokes “a difficult situation for all the municipalities”, “which was not taken into account by the government”, logically citing the case of Paris. The energy costs will represent 170 million euros on the 2023 budget, it is “100 million more compared to 2021 for Paris”, she assures.

“Paris is lucky to have a healthy financial situation,” replies the mayor of Paris. Real estate, lower unemployment, recovery in tourism… Anne Hidalgo assures the hemicycle of the good dynamics of the City, despite the concerns and reproaches of the opposition.

As expected, the LR deputies and their leader left the Council of Paris. They had announced last week that they did not want to participate in “this parody of the budget debate”.

Leader of the Republicans at the Council of Paris, Rachida Dati launches the debates and evokes the rules of the assembly. The budget orientation report should have been known “within two months before the vote on the budget”, she insists. “This document should have been sent before Wednesday, November 2 at the latest. (…) We had it on Monday, November 7 afternoon, unheard of”, assures Rachida Dati. And continues “In the meantime (…) you have decided in a somewhat shameful way, by a tweet, an increase in the property tax. What contempt, what disrespect! “.

Several elected officials are continuing to pay tribute to the former Chiraquian minister, including that of Maud Gatel.

A new tribute and a new minute of silence are organized, this time in tribute to Nicole Catalaformer councilor of Paris, elected for the XIVth arrondissement, died on October 19 at the age of 86.

The session begins with a tribute to Patrick-Olivier Picourt, former deputy mayor of Paris, who died on September 28 at the age of 71.

Anne Hidalgo evokes “a curious, creative man”, and sends her condolences to “his family, his friends, his loved ones”. After a minute of silence, Jack-Yves Bohot (LR) takes the floor in turn: “His commitment to Paris still resonates within the walls of this hemicycle”.

The mayor of paris has just launched the first day of the Paris Council. The first part of the morning will be devoted in particular to the report of the October session.

Welcome to this live broadcast devoted to following the debates of the first day of the Paris Council.