a level of investment maintained at 250 million
Moving forward and continuing to invest despite budgetary uncertainties: this is the will of the majority at the helm of the departmental council.
Building a sincere budget despite the will of energy prices, skyrocketing costs and the ambition to continue investing. This is the headache for many communities these days, when it is necessary to build the 2023 budgets. The elected officials of Pas-de-Calais engaged in this exercise last week, with always the requirement of proximity for the departmental council run by Jean-Claude Leroy: ” to protect against the deleterious effects of the global economy and to innovate in the service of territories and the population, nothing can be done without us, that is a certainty, because we are in direct contact. But this requires mutual trust and the means to act. ”
Sharp increase in operating expenses
The finances of a department are essentially compulsory and constrained expenses, starting with those of social action, more than 50% of the budget of 1.9 billion: the payment of solidarity allowances (RSA, APA, PCH ), accommodation for the elderly or disabled, social assistance for children. On the positive side, a sign of a social upturn for some, the payment of these benefits should stabilize for 2023.
Measures taken by the State to be assumed at the level of the departments
The operating expenses of the department will nevertheless increase by 7.6%, which represents 120 million euros. Why ? ” 80% of this expenditure is constrained expenditure relating to the increase in the cost of energy, but also to the measures decided in 2022 by the government and which we must assume budgetaryly, the State compensating little or not at all “, explains Daniel Macizejasz, vice-president of finance.
Among these ” measures decided “, appreciated by the socialist majority of the department, the paying of Ségur and the increase in the income of caregivers in the social and medico-social sector. Inflation, growth in 2023 limited to 0.8 against 2.6% in 2022, free energy, increase in interest rates: the department of Pas-de-Calais is not immune to a fairly unprecedented economic environment. ” It is quite rare for us to have to be so attentive to the macro-economic context “, concedes Jean-Claude Leroy:” but we are well aware that the hardest consequences will be for the most vulnerable people, which concerns us directly under our social benefits. ”
Less debt per capita than average
Ranked among the best-managed departments in France, with a debt reduction capacity of less than 10 years and a debt per capita of €488 (the national average is €539), Pas-de-Calais continues to report the absence of independent tools to manage tax resources.
College, road, support for municipalities…
For 2023, the department will invest 250 million euros, starting with colleges (37 million for the construction of new establishments) and social and medico-social establishments for children (15 million). 36.5 million euros will be donated to municipal and inter-municipal projects, 38 million to the departmental road network, 10 million to culture and sport.
A budget to be voted on in the spring
In the debates, the oppositions (right and extreme right) have only very little challenged the substance of the budget that they should vote in the spring. The only scratch came from Alexandre Malfait, president of the Union group for Pas-de-Calais: “ at this point, I don’t see any other solutions than magic money or Santa Claus… ”