The increase in the 2022 property tax in Marseille, voted by the left-wing municipality which says it has inherited a "
difficult financial situation
", was canceled on Friday by the administrative court, but elected officials have until September 30 to deliberate in new.
Arriving in business in 2020, the new Marseille municipality had promised that it would not increase local taxes but finally justified this increase, - representing some 50 million in additional revenue - by new expenses, in particular linked to inflation and to rising energy prices.
“
The court notes that the documents related to the original budget given to municipal councilors in preparation for the municipal council of April 8, 2022 provided them with insufficient information on the evolution of local tax rates”, notes the court in a press release
.
"
For this reason, the procedure for adopting the initial budget 2022 as well as the deliberation fixing the rates of the property tax on built and unbuilt properties for 2022 are irregular
", he adds.
Two appeals requesting the cancellation of these deliberations had been filed, one by Marseille owners, the other by an elected opposition member denouncing a "
secret vote
".
They had been examined by the administrative court on March 15.
The cancellation of these deliberations does not, however, take effect immediately, the court having granted the city council a deadline - as requested by the city's lawyer -, until September 30, 2023, "
to deliberate again on this question
" .
the property tax hike.
"
The sincerity of the City's budget has never been called into question by the administrative court
", for whom "
the only reason retained is a question of form
", reacted the municipality in a press release.
Read alsoAlert to soaring property taxes in many cities this year
"The story is not over"
"
The 2022 budget is not canceled but would possibly be on October 1, 2023 if by then, we did not regularize the few administrative lines which were not completely compliant and which we are blamed for",
explained with AFP Joël Canicave, the finance assistant.
“
So we are going to regularize by that date
” by including on the agenda of the next two municipal councils the budget orientation report and the vote on the rates and the 2022 budget, he added, excluding any reimbursement to the 125,000 Marseille owners affected by the increase.
"
It's a decision that is not favorable to us
" but "
the story is not over
", warned for his part Jacques Gobert, lawyer for nearly 240 Marseille owners, at the origin of the second appeal.
According to him, the new deliberations of the municipal council risk indeed being "
attacked for nullity
".
