Can donations for Notre Dame de Paris be used to pay off the debt of the Paris City Hall?
Since the presentation of the report of the parliamentary fact-finding mission on the restoration of Notre Dame, the question does not seem so incongruous as that.
According to the deputy for Paris Brigitte Kuster (LR), who chairs the mission, a standoff opposes the public establishment responsible for the reconstruction of the cathedral to the city, around a fee for works, representing 3.4 million euros. euros per year.
The municipality is entitled to claim a tax from whoever occupies the public domain.
On paper, the Notre-Dame site, which extends widely around the cathedral, falls into this scenario.
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But as early as October 2021, General Georgelin had written to Anne Hidalgo to request an exemption from this slate, which could represent 17 million over five years (deducted from the 831 million donations received since April 2019).
He has not received an official response, which amounts to a plea of inadmissibility.
"It's common law,"
explains Emmanuel Grégoire, first deputy mayor, to
Parisian
.
"It is incredible to think that such a site, entirely financed by donations, does not benefit from an exceptional regime",
considers Brigitte Kuster.
After the fire that struck Nantes Cathedral in 2020, the city had, for example, waived taxes – proof that it is always possible to adapt.
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The parliamentary mission also underlines that this refusal to accede to the request of the public establishment comes after an about-face on the promise of donations made by Anne Hidalgo, the day after the fire which ravaged Notre-Dame de Paris .
The latter had announced the payment of 50 million euros for the restoration of the walls, an amount which will ultimately be used to repair the surroundings of the cathedral.
"
It's indecent, when hundreds of cities have paid something, even minimal
", judges MP LR.
The choice of the town hall of Paris to reallocate the promised 50 million was nevertheless made in agreement with the diocese and the Public Establishment, which are demanding new access to the cathedral, in particular under the current forecourt.
According to the MP, the Court of Auditors could in turn look into the question of the fee, by examining the link between the intention of donors and the use made of their money.
There remains the mayor who, until then, has not spoken.
Can she remain silent for long on a subject of national importance, while she is in the process of conducting her election campaign?
“If we don't have an answer, I will submit a wish to the next Paris council on March 21, and she will be obliged to officially give her position”,
warns the president of the mission.