'Xynthia tax' for Charente-Maritime

LOCAL taxes in the Charente-Maritime could rise by up to 6% this year to pay for the repair operation from Storm Xynthia.

Departmental president Dominique Bussereau will discuss the "storm solidarity tax" with councillors at the next meeting on April 16.

He says the increase would raise an extra €8.2m for the department, which was one of the most-hit by the storms and flooding at the end of February.

The increase, if approved, would apply to residential taxes - taxe d'habitation and taxe foncière and the local business taxes due to replace the taxe professionnelle.

According to Le Journal du Dimanche, the Vendée and Charente-Maritime préfectures will this week announce the destruction of between 1,300 and 1,500 homes in flooding zones.

Homeowners will get back 100% of the cost of their property, from a combination of insurance funds and the state, at a total cost of €200m.

A group of victims in the Vendée have hired a top Paris lawyer, Olivier Metzner, to look at the case for suing the local authorities for negligence for allowing planning permission in flood zones.