'Money was squandered': Town residents stunned by unjustified property tax hike

It's the bad news of the new school year. Property owners, whether they own a parking space or a second home, received their property tax notices at the beginning of September. And for some, the bill is very painful. This is the case in Gandrange in Moselle, where the over-indebted municipality has increased property tax by 136%, a sad national record.

For the town's 3,000 residents, it's a cold shower. This is the case for Laurent Brener, a private nurse in Gandrange and owner of his main residence in the town. And this surge in property tax, "it's not justified," he assures this Thursday on RMC and RMC Story .

"We had some inklings of what was going to happen, but not from the municipality, but from the opposition, which distributed leaflets in mailboxes saying that the management was not sound and the situation was not good," he continues.

As a result, his parents, who live in the commune and paid 856 euros in property tax last year, now have to pay 1,700 euros!

"People don't understand. An increase is good, but there are no specific investments; we haven't built a hospital or anything," he laments.

The reason property tax has increased so much is because the municipality is over-indebted, with the municipal debt standing at €2 million. Following a legal saga between Mayor Henri Octave and several banking institutions, the municipality was ordered to repay several loans it had taken out. "The mayor had taken out €2 million from Crédit Mutuel , he decided to stop paying this loan, took out another loan to repay it, took the money but didn't repay the first loan," Laurent Brener believes.

But what about the borrowed money? "That's the question we ask ourselves, we have no investment, the money has been squandered on daily necessities and nothing more," continues the independent nurse.

"An individual would find themselves banned from banking and face sanctions, but the mayor has none, and we're the ones who will pay," he adds.

In Gandrange, anger is rising, with residents demanding accountability from the mayor, who has so far remained silent: "Requests for interviews have been made, but the mayor is refusing, closing the door," despairs Laurent Brener.

Henri Octave, the mayor (SE) admitted his mistake on France 3 : "I didn't imagine that we would be charged such a rate," he said regarding the late payment interest demanded by banking establishments.

"I had asked that we be able to spread the increase over two years to be able to maintain the rate we had, but the prefecture did not follow this request," adds the elected official, who has been in office for three terms.