the metropolis of Toulouse has been able to cope without endangering its budget
The Occitanie Regional Chamber of Accounts has examined the accounts and management of Toulouse Métropole in 2020 and the following years. This control focused on the measures put in place by the community during the health crisis and their impact on its budget.
The Occitanie Regional Chamber of Accounts audited the accounts and management of the Toulouse metropolitan area, particularly during the period of the health crisis. And the community is not doing so badly given the economic context.
The Covid has damaged the economic sector, which alone represents 60% of businesses in the Haute-Garonne department. Revenue from aeronautics and space fell by 18.4% in 2020. This sector, emblematic in the territory, saw its production interrupted with air traffic at a standstill.
The decline continued in 2021, due to a slower recovery in activity than in other sectors of the economy. In total, 20,400 jobs are lost in the region, including 30% in the aeronautics and space sector.
A first for this sector, which had nevertheless shown a capacity to resist the effects of the economic crisis of 2008. However, this crisis marks a real blow to its dynamism. It should be remembered that out of 345 aeronautical companies revealed in Haute-Garonne, 250 present themselves on the territory of the metropolis (72.4%).
To deal with the health crisis, Toulouse Métropole notably adopted an emergency plan on April 30, 2020 in favor of the economic fabric with a provisional budget of €30 million.
Several economic support schemes have been deployed. Such as the creation or participation of the metropolis in local support funds, a reduction in economic taxation, exemptions from royalties, rents or charges paid by users of the metropolitan area. Other measures: the assumption of additional costs or the payment of advances within the framework of public procurement contracts, or even the adoption of amendments to certain public service delegation contracts.
But that’s not all. A recovery plan for employment in the amount of €95 million has been added to the measures put in place by the metropolis.
The Regional Chamber of Accounts paid the net direct cost linked to the crisis at €19.4 million in 2020.Moreover, for 2020, the health crisis has not had a significant impact on the metropolitan budget.can we read in the report.
Indeed, the actual operating expenses directly linked to the Covid amount to €14.2 million and thus represent 1.9% of the expenses for the financial year. Although the decrease in actual operating income linked to the crisis is €10.4 million, this loss is mitigated by the maintenance of fiscal dynamism in the territory.
This is notably due to the reduction in economic taxation from 2020 and continued in 2021. The investment section had to be preserved from the consequences of the crisis.
“In the medium term, the metropolitan area’s financial challenges relate to maintaining the momentum of management products in a context of reduced economic taxation and continued reform of local taxation, and increased vigilance of indebtedness. satellites in which the metropolis is financially committed“, concluded the Regional Chamber of Accounts.