“I call on the local authorities to their responsibilities, under the leadership of the regions, to find solutions before closing the round table”. Firm but confident, the prefect of the Occitanie Region called the few refractory to the Bordeaux-Toulouse LGV to reason.
Charged last September by the Prime Minister to coordinate this titanic project, he presented a first assessment of the progress of the file, one month after sending the financing plan to the 26 local authorities concerned.
Green light in Occitanie, brakes in New Aquitaine
This Saturday, December 18, all had expressed themselves. On the Occitanie side, green light everywhere – whether it is the Regional Council, the departmental councils of Haute-Garonne, Hautes-Pyrénées, Tarn-et-Garonne, Gers, Lot and Tarn, but also Toulouse Métropole, SICOVAL and agglomerations (Muretain, Tarbes-Lourdes, Grand Montauban, Grand Auch, Grand Cahors, Grand Albigeois and Castres Mazamet).
On the New Aquitaine side, however, things get stuck. Some communities have outright refused the project such as Grand Dax, the departments of Lot-et-Garonne and Gironde, and also, quite recently, the urban community of the Basque Country. Other communities in the region supported the project but did not vote for participations equivalent to those listed in the financing plan. For example, the Pyrénées Atlantiques allocated 70 million euros, excluding taxes, to the project instead of the 103 required.
This first round of table is over, there is a concrete shortfall of 235 million euros net. A sum which seems substantial but which, on the scale of a project of the order of 14 billion euros, is in reality a grain of sand. Its funding is broken down into three parts: the European Union for 20%, the State for 40%, equally with local communities. In the two regions, 5.6 billion euros in local funding were expected.
235 million euros to be found as the timing tightens
Etienne Guyot synthesizes: he is missing in the end “2.4% of the project, on the part of local authorities, to be found”. And time is running out since the LOM law requires the creation of the local public establishment on April 24, 2022, which will support the funding. By then, the draft ordinance on this financing company must be presented to the Council of State and then, if accepted, examined by the Council of Ministers in February 2022.
Can the project be transmitted without the financing plan being fully completed? These missing 2.4% do not seem to be a hindrance for Etienne Guyot: “the goal is for the order to be filed at the end of the year or at the beginning of the year 2022”.
The ball is in the court of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
The prefect was optimistic, despite the tight timing : “I see the ballot boxes three quarters full after a month, 23 communities in two regions have said yes and that is what is important, we are not far away “.
Indeed, deliberations are still expected in the coming weeks in New Aquitaine. The prefect notably mentioned the case of Lot-et-Garonne where the department refused to participate but not … the agglomeration community of Agen.
So no worries, but the coordinating prefect wanted to call on local communities to “their responsibilities”. Especially since local authorities, when they get involved, rely on significant tax revenues. Indeed, approximately 30% of their investments will be financed by taxes, and in particular the Special Equipment Tax (TSE) collected from taxpayers.
Its principle was enacted last November by the deputies, as an amendment to the finance bill. If this TSE is already taken into account by the communities, we still don’t know who will pay it – we just know that it should not exceed ten euros per year and per tax household and concern homes located less than 60 minutes from a TGV station.
For the moment, local authorities have rejected an Office Tax (TSB) in principle, but other tax revenues cannot be ruled out.
SNCF Réseau will participate
Other funding could occur in a second step, once the public establishment is created. Because SNCF Réseau has finally decided to participate in the financing. As the contracting authority, part of the tolls collected during the operation of future lines (Bordeaux-Toulouse and Dax-Toulouse) should contribute to the investment. As well as the piloting of the Great South West Project jointly with the Public Establishment and the State.
Ardently desired by Toulouse and Occitanie, this Great Railway Project should save an hour’s journey by train to Toulouse, putting the 4th largest city in France at 3h10 from Paris. A project for the moment hoped for in 2030.