The year 2019 ended in anger for the so-called privileged Communes. Overwhelmed by their contribution to the social bill imposed on them by the state, they judge the amount of this punishment unjust. In three of them, it even exceeds the sum of tax receipts. In December, Rolle’s socialist trustee pulled the banner of the revolt, promising non-payment “to be heard”.
The story is not new. For nearly two decades, the State and Communal partners have been trying to find the equation that will satisfy everyone. We are talking about the balance of charges between the Canton and the localities, but also about the fairness between the Communes themselves. It is around these two axes that the Grand Council was again moved, during its last meeting, to the disparities and other injustices that are rotting the file.
Eighteen months
The parliament ended up voting a resolution asking the Council of State and associations of Communes to speed up the pace of reforms to arrive with a new equalization usable for calculations from June 2021, from the start of the new municipal legislature. It would come into force on January 1, 2022.
What does this year of tough talks hold? In the eyes of the moving syndic of Bassins, the Green Didier Lohri, there is nothing to be happy about. He believes that the eighteen months envisaged to resolve the problem will be barely sufficient. And, like other MPs who spoke on December 18, he argues today that the famous social bill is the crux of the problem. “It’s a matter of basic math.”
The Council of State has hinted that a new distribution between Canton and localities for the payment of this painful could see the light of day. Today, it is almost 50/50, with a slightly preponderant share for the State. The latter should increase its participation.
Large amounts at stake
But at this stage the government does not want to move forward, as the amounts at stake are large (more than 800 million for the Communes in 2019). A total switch of the note to the Canton would amount to transferring the trifle of 27 tax points. Passages of less than 10 points between the two institutional entities have already resulted in heated debates in the past …
However, something must be done. To the west of the canton, the Communes of wealthy taxpayers complain about equalization (a mechanism of financial solidarity between localities), which successive modifications have ended up making impracticable.
hopes
President of the AdCV, the Association of Vaudois Communes, which groups together the localities most in demand for equalization, Josephine Byrne Garelli testifies that these are “exasperated”. “They have the feeling that with each change to equalization we sink a little deeper.” MP PLR notes that the population, usually not very passionate about institutional and technical issues, is starting to worry. “At the hair salon, I was asked to explain the equalization!” She recalls.
In 2020, the Vaudois political landernau will see a new person arrive at the Council of State. The very likely election of the PLR Christelle Luisier, to replace Jacqueline de Quattro, opens the door to some hopes in the Commons. In the cantonal government, the Payerne union will swell the ranks of the former unionists, Nuria Gorrite and Béatrice Métraux – from Morges and Bottens respectively.
In the Communes of the west of the canton, voices are raised so that the Service of the communes is no longer, in the future, under the responsibility of the Green Beatrice Metals, but rather falls into the purview of Christelle Luisier. They unintentionally join those who, on the Greens side, ask that Béatrice Métraux take over the Territory and Environment Department that Jacqueline de Quattro left. But even if this scenario is realized, not sure that this is enough to move the cursor in favor of the Commons. The State Councilor in charge of Finance, the PLR Pascal Broulis, constantly manages the financial health of the State. This is verified budget after budget, account after account: the Canton remains extremely cautious, for fear of falling back into the debt spiral, as was the case twenty years ago.
The fact remains that the Grand Council, composed of numerous deputies-syndics and deputies-municipal, could end up imposing a new balance between Canton and Communes. Josephine Byrne Garelli assures that, if the 2020 negotiations skid, MPs will draft legislative initiatives that can be applied immediately. “The state says the Commons are fine,” said the MP. But our overall debt is much higher. ”In its latest analyzes, the Union of Vaud Municipalities notes that the debt of localities is 7.2 times higher than that of the Canton.
Created: 06.01.2020, 06:40
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