A soaring payroll that would send Bagnolet (Seine-Saint-Denis) to bankruptcy? First deputy mayor, in charge of finance, Olivier Taravella resigned from office on Monday March 12. In a letter which we were able to read sent to Mayor Tony Di Martino (PS) and to the entire majority, the elected official justifies his decision by disagreements on the financial strategy in this city known to be one of the most indebted. of France.
He recalls having arrived at the helm when the situation “was catastrophic with more than 17 million euros in unpaid invoices, 12 million euros in insincere receipts and a negative cash flow”. “The audit presented in September 2014 predicted that the city would be in default by fiscal year 2016,” he adds by way of context.
In his missive, Olivier Taravella tells how he fought to straighten out the finances, with in particular the renegotiation in 2015 of 21 million euros of toxic loans. And said to have been commissioned since to generate new margins. Problem: the former first deputy considers that, to achieve this, “it was imperative to intervene resolutely on personnel expenses, which are particularly high”.
School projects “unfundable as they stand”
It is on this point that the differences with the mayor would have been accentuated. “As early as 2017, I made the proposal to set a target cap of 40 million euros in payroll,” he writes. Proposal discarded. For the year 2023, the resigning elected official says he does not believe in the level of expenditure retained by the City, which stands at 47 million euros. The ambition would suppose, according to him, “a real policy of reduction of supernumerary contracts or positions whose need is not demonstrated”.
Olivier Taravella therefore believes that “the risk that we will be facing a wall from 2024 is increasing sharply”. With concrete consequences: “The projects for schools in the city center or the reconstruction of the Langevin school group (are) unfinanceable in the state. The Ferry School will probably not see any beginning before the 2030s”.
He also recalls that significant tax increases were voted in 2017 and 2022. “But (they) came with a moral contract with the (habitants). That of reducing our operating expenses (…) However, most of the margins have been absorbed by the payroll. »
“A major political crisis that is once again damaging our city”
The municipal council of Bagnolet meets this Thursday, March 16. He should not elect his replacement, the prefecture of Seine-Saint-Denis having not yet ratified the resignation. The vote should therefore take place in April.
But the decision has already reacted in the ranks of the opposition: “When the first deputy evokes excesses on the payroll, would he not denounce here a form of clientelism? “Asks Solène Le Bourhis (PCF). Accused of having recruited a project manager for the town planning department with the aim of “buying social peace”, Tony Di Martino had been released by the courts this fall.
In a press release, the local section of the Communist Party evokes “a significant and unprecedented political act”, which plunges the majority “into a major political crisis which is once again damaging our city”. This resignation “highlights a management that we have been denouncing for years: disorganized City services – as evidenced by the recent scandal of collective catering -, staff in suffering, prospects blocked by lack of anticipation and vision, inconsistency of decisions … »
Reached by telephone, Olivier Taravella did not wish to speak further. However, he assures that his decision has “nothing personal” against Tony Di Martino. The latter replied to him, also in writing, noting his decision.
“The guardianship, we have been promised since 2012”, relativizes the mayor
“It’s regrettable but we have budgetary and above all political disagreements,” he replied on Thursday. It happens, that’s life. Its position, to save money, was to privatize a certain number of services, such as maintenance in schools, to sell our holiday centers and I am opposed to that. »
Regarding the payroll, the mayor of Bagnolet says “to make efforts every year”: “Besides, it is rather what the opposition and the unions reproach me for: to do too much, to smooth recruitment, not to replace retirements…”
Tony Di Martino also assures that the municipality is not on the verge of bankruptcy. “The guardianship, we have been promised since 2012, he quips. Of course, investments have to be smoothed out, but we struggle every day to get subsidies. There’s nothing new. »
With the exception of the inflationary context which would severely penalize finances. “The revaluation of the index point for civil servants and certain categories B and C, over a full year, is 2 million euros, he observes. These were necessary measures, but we put up with them because the state does not compensate. And the energy crisis between 2021 and 2023, it costs us 2.9 million euros. »
