Mayors call strike over tax cuts

Department capital Evreux is among the towns concerned and not only the mairie but services like libraries, gardeners and waste collectors and primary schools will be out of action on Wednesday October 4. Staff are reportedly going to be paid but will not receive the public – they may however be doing office work or training instead.

In some smaller communes, only the mairie itself is expected to close.

Evreux mayor Guy Lefrand is outspoken in his criticism, saying he believes central government will only ‘partially’ replace the income lost due to plans (confirmed yesterday) to progressively axe taxe d’habitation for 80% of households over the next three years.

“It’s going to cause public services to shut down, it’s going to cause a massive increase in the tariffs of public services, it’s going to bring a reduction of investment by councils, and unemployment,” Mr Lefrand told FranceInfo.

A spokesman for the Association des Maires de France said it was very rare for mayors to call a strike and he could not recall it happening in recent years. He confirmed that action was expected in Eure but said he had no data so far on how many mairies were concerned or whether the protest movement was spreading to other parts of France.

However, he said there has been rising anger among some mayors across France ever since Mr Macron announced his plans to slash the tax in his presidential campaign – and which has now come to a head as the plan was confirmed with yesterday presentation of the draft of next year’s Finance Law.

It is intended that all households apart from the 20% best-off (using ceilings which rise according to the size of the family) will pay one third less tax in each of the three coming years, so as to be exempt from it by 2020. Though it is a major source of income for local authorities, the government has said it will compensate for communes’ losses.

The AMF spokesman said: “It is true that some mayors are organising strikes or protests. Local councillors are really unhappy about these cuts.

“They directly attack the financial autonomy of local authorities and encroach on a constitutional principle of the freedom of local authorities to administer their affairs.”

Mayors have not only expressed scepticism that the government will fully replace the lost tax but they do not want a central government grant to replace a tax which they can control by voting to raise or lower the rate.