Le Figaro Nantes
End of the year rhymes with discussions about the budget for municipalities.
In La Baule, this debate took place on November 28 during the municipal council.
Main lesson: taxation will remain unchanged in 2023 and the potential surcharge for second homes will not be activated.
Budgetary choices justified by the mayor LR Franck Louvrier.
LE FIGARO - With the current increase in costs, linked in particular to the rise in energy prices, why did you not choose to pass on some of them to your constituents?
Franck LOUVRIER -
It's a campaign promise.
The goal is to maintain taxation.
We have a population that is already heavily taxed.
In addition, in La Baule, our real estate is our strength.
The increase in rental values that serve as the basis for calculating the property tax allows us to maintain our capacity for action.
Have you also decided not to activate the surcharge on second homes as is done in Nantes?
We are opposed to this strategy.
The idea is not to saw off the branch on which we are sitting.
And then, in proportion to the use of our services, secondary residents already pay more than the others.
Our goal is to make them want to come and live here year-round.
It is not by increasing taxes that we will get there.
On the contrary, we make sure to develop our services.
We have 5G, the city is fully fibered.
We are no longer a deserted seaside resort in winter.
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Your ambition, already mentioned, is to bring people to live or work in the
"
holiday country
"
...
It's already the case.
For example, the number of schoolchildren has increased by 4.7% with the arrival of several families and, since last July, there are 200 new voters registered on the electoral lists.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic and the emergence of teleworking, people have been looking for a better quality of life.
This phenomenon of deurbanization, which is confirmed month after month, is a godsend for us.
It is a global economic asset and in particular fiscal for our receipts.
During the city council, you talked about a budget of continuity and maturity...
Continuity since there is no increase in taxes and fiscal stability.
For maturity, it is linked to the fact that 2022 was our first year of full exercise for our municipality since the Covid-19.
We can now put our budget policy in place more clearly because tourist attendance has returned to its 2019 level. It has even exceeded it this year.
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By maintaining taxation at its current level, will you scale back your investments or abandon certain projects?
No.
We have a very big project to requalify the seaside promenade with a budget of 50 million euros which will be amortized over 50 years.
To do this, we are taking advantage of the low interest rates and since the city's financial situation is healthy, we can borrow at attractive rates.
Roads continue to represent approximately 50% of the overall budget.
La Baule has a vegetation cover with very beautiful pines, which provide shade in summer, but have a root system which requires regular intervention.
We are also continuing to finance our video protection system because we do not want to experience the same bad security situation as in Nantes.
By the end of the mandate, a municipal police hotel will be built next to the police station.
Part of the opposition pointed to the lack of cultural facilities in your budget guidelines...
There is no shortage.
We have two projects planned with a future location for the theater and an exhibition hall.
We already have a 900-seat convention centre, which is important equipment for a municipality of our size.
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