Les métropoles, aux prises avec leurs réalités fiscales ?

Metropolitan institutions (set up under the law MAPTAM in 2014) are supposed to play a major role on the economic and social plan, at the national and international level. As a consequence, the realization of their ambitious projects of territory requires high financial resources. But in these new metropolitan institutions, communes and their associations fall under the ordinary fiscal regime. The success that is expected then relies on a double assumption. First the dynamic of territorial development will be sufficient to ensure that revenues from local taxes will grow steadily. And secondly local politicians will use their fiscal autonomy in order to provide additional resources. In fact by analyzing fiscal data, it appears that the advantages of the major cities with their tax bases do not already stop them to impose a heavier burden on their taxpayers. In addition local elected representatives use sparingly the tax lever, even where tax bases do not really increase. The future of spatial planning and of metropolitan development would then be uncertain, mainly because of constraints on local budgets.