He puts the blame on them, and they don’t like it. The Association of Mayors of France (AMF) castigated Monday evening a “controversy created from scratch” by Emmanuel Macron, who on Sunday evening attributed responsibility for property tax increases to municipalities.
“During his television interview yesterday, the President of the Republic blamed the mayors of France for daring to say that if property taxes increase, it is the government’s fault, while paradoxically recognizing that many mayors have not increased it. In this case 85% of them. This controversy, created from scratch, surprised and shocked the mayors by its unfair nature,” states the AMF in a press release.
“The abolition of the housing tax has profoundly destabilized local taxation”
Sunday evening, the Head of State defended his tax policy on TF1 and France 2, assuring: “When you have your property tax increasing, it’s not the government. (…) It’s your municipality that decides. And it’s a scandal when I hear elected officials who dare to say that it’s the government’s fault.” The remark made several city councilors from all sides jump.
The property tax, a local tax which benefits communities, is paid by the owners of real estate. Its amount is determined by cadastral values, which the State can update, and a rate, set by the municipalities.
“No local elected official thinks, or says, that the property tax is a state tax,” says the AMF, chaired by the LR mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard. “On the other hand, all elected officials note that the abolition of the housing tax has profoundly destabilized local taxation by concentrating it solely on property tax. At no time since 2017 has the executive proposed building a renewed framework,” she criticizes.