Posted Sep 30, 2022 11:20 AM
The departmental council of Morbihan currently displays “a good financial situation”, indicates the Regional Chamber of Accounts of Brittany in its latest report on the local authority. “But, she continues, its determinants in revenue and expenditure are no longer controlled by the community”. It must therefore “maintain its vigilance” and extend its search for “room for manoeuvre”.
The Chamber of Auditors points out the fragility of all the French departmental councils which have lost their autonomy with the disappearance of the housing tax. Their main resources come from transfer duties levied on the sale of housing and VAT, which is very dependent on the economic situation.
In Morbihan, transfer duties increase regularly thanks to the increase in population. Nevertheless, insists the Chamber of Accounts, in the event of an economic crisis, this departmental council “will have to face a significant drop in revenue” while social spending could increase sharply, “in particular the active solidarity income”.
More forward-looking management tools
Totaling 311.4 million euros in 2020, social spending in Morbihan is indeed the most important item in the budget. They have increased by 28.7 million euros since 2016 when “State grants have remained stable”.
The financial magistrates therefore ask the elected representatives of the departmental council to deploy “more forward-looking” management tools and to optimize “the methods of implementing the main public policies of the department”.
Still, this county council is far from being desperate. Its financial situation has improved since 2016 with self-financing increasing from 107.3 to 129.1 million euros when its outstanding debt has decreased significantly from 224.6 million euros in 2016 to only 162, 9 million euros in 2021.
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