Although the next municipal elections are quickly approaching, the issue of mandate costs of the mayors was again invited in the public debate after the revelations about the expenses of the Parisian councilors, in particular Anne Hidalgo.
This new controversy save has highlighted the blurred legal framework and the lack of supervision of cost management. “The law is not as precise as that. We can even say that it is not very precise at all and governments have always refused to establish an eligible cost list due to the diversity of situations,” observes Eric Verlhac, general director of the Association of Mayors of France.
In addition to their assignments, which are set according to a ceiling rate in the application of article 3 of Law No. 2015-366, the city councilors can “be reimbursed, of their community, certain costs,” recalls the National Center of the Territorial Public Service, on an explanatory sheet.
There are different types. First, representation or trips, the most used costs, but also of attention or assistance, costs related to a disability situation or costs incurred for rescue assistance expenses.
Without precision in expenses
Compensation for representation costs is reserved for mayors and intermunicipal presidents, with the exception of municipal communities, underlines the Association of Mayors of France. “Voted by the Council on the ordinary resources of the municipality, this compensation does not correspond to a right but to a simple possibility. Therefore, it is the Council that the decision to grant, or not, to the mayor compensation for representation rates. It is also he who sets the amount,” specifies the AMF.
This compensation covers one of the main points of tension because the law does not specify what expenses can be covered with this allocation. However, for the Interior Ministry, these costs should only cover the mayor’s personal expenses linked to their functions and municipal interest.
Therefore, the Municipal Council can authorize a mayor to buy a disguise for a gala ceremony where his city represents, the essentials “to justify the purchase so that this compensation is not considered as a remuneration supplement,” continues Eric Verlhac.
One hundred euros to several thousand
These amounts may vary from one hundred euros to several thousand euros per month. In Hesdin, a commune of 2,200 inhabitants in Pas-de-Calais, the Municipal Council limited the costs of representing its mayor to 300 euros per month. Some mayors, as in Marcaussis (Essonne), on the other hand, decided not to have them. At the other extreme, in Paris, a city with a special status, the annual roof is established at 19,720 euros for the mayor of the capital.
In practice, the financial services of the community or the municipal council itself are in charge of verification. But as communities are freely administered, provided that the expense is legal, control remains quite limited. Most of the time, it is the regional chambers of accounts that, in case of case, highlight any irregularity.
In the absence of a clear repository, as is the case of parliamentarians, the question of the costs of representing the mayors arises in many municipalities, where it is generally the opposition that, since it could not have clarified the purchases considered suspicious, they smile the alarm.
A mentioned elimination
If the Public Ethics Observatory requested “improve transparency and strengthening control over any compensation and remuneration perceived by local elected officials,” others opt for more radical solutions. For Ian Brossat, it is necessary to “completely” eliminate “the costs of the mandate.
A position shared by Jeanne D’HOUTEERRE, mayor of the eighth district. “I understand that in the current situation of the company, these rates must be eliminated, because the fellow citizens see it there privileges,” said the elected official of the Parisian.
Source: BFM TV
