"This figure is completely out of proportion": these 8 billion euros of savings on the backs of local authorities that are not being passed on

After the first wave, a tsunami? On the eve of the "territorial financial conference" organized this Tuesday, May 6 by the government to define "appropriate economic guidelines for 2026 ," local authorities are on a war footing.

A few months ago, during the 2025 finance law, they had already been imposed an effort of 5 billion euros , finally reduced to 2.2 billion by the Senate. A mere foretaste. Matignon is seeing much bigger for 2026 with 40 to 50 billion in savings , including 8 billion euros on the shoulders of local authorities alone. Not enough to facilitate discussions with local actors already quite scalded by a start to the year marked by budgetary restrictions.

"This figure that is being mentioned seems completely out of touch to me!" , snaps André Laignel, Socialist Party mayor of Issoudun (Indre) and ^1st vice-president of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF). Especially since, according to his own calculations, "undisputed so far" , he specifies, the 2025 finance law has in fact recorded "7.4 billion in savings if we add to the 2.2 billion euros the new measures that have been imposed on us, such as the reduction of the Green Fund, the freezing of the increase in the fraction of VAT that was due to us or the increase in contributions to the pension scheme for local government employees" . This is the reason why the AMF boycotted , on April 14, the previous meeting entitled "public finance alert committee".

This time she should go, or at least