Local finance as a tool for public decision-making[Les finances locales comme outil d'aide à la décision publique Local finance as a tool for public decision-making]

In a context of fiscal tightening, local governments are increasingly compelled to arbitrate their interventions and to prioritize certain areas in the allocation of grants. In this perspective, analyzing the financial situation of communal blocks constitutes a valuable decision-support tool for public actors. This article proposes a method based on a combination of indicators relating to potential wealth, investment effort and available room for maneuver. It seeks to provide a comprehensive and operational framework for comparing financial situations across territories. Applied to intermunicipal groups in metropolitan France in 2024, the approach is structured in two stages. The first consists in assessing the level of potential resources – measured through a composite indicator combining fiscal potential and state transfers – and the degree of investment commitment. The second stage aims to identify the main available levers that can be mobilized to finance future projects, including taxation capacity, debt sustainability, cash flow, investment grants and the degree of intermunicipal integration. The results reveal significant heterogeneity in financial situations across territories. Some communal blocks combine limited resources with a high level of mobilization of available levers, thereby constraining their future investment capacity. Conversely, other territories exhibit more favorable positions, with untapped margins for action. These disparities are partly associated with structural factors such as population size (number of inhabitants), regional location and degree of rurality. Overall, the findings underline the importance of adopting a multidimensional and contextualized approach to financial analysis, rather than relying on a single composite indicator, in order to better inform public decision-making and tailor policy interventions to local conditions.