"We made political choices": Mayor Alain Ravanello defends his budget record at the Carcès municipal council
It took Carçois elected officials nearly three hours to complete the 28 deliberations on the agenda of the municipal council meeting on Wednesday evening. Among the many points discussed, finances took center stage , even coming first in the order of deliberations, with the vote on the single financial account (CFU). As a reminder, the CFU is a single document that replaces both the administrative account and the management account. It takes stock of budgetary operations – revenue and expenditure on the operating section and the investment section – for the past year and therefore closes the 2024 financial year. It is also an opportunity to put the year into perspective in the mandate.
A long council session rich in often courteous exchanges, sometimes well-judged remarks, but without any grand flourishes either. In short, there were many speeches to request clarification or shed light on decisions from both the majority and the opposition.
Battle of numbersFor Alain Ravanello , the accounts are going in the right direction: an operating section and a debt repayment capacity, well below the prudential threshold of 12 years, under control and a result to be allocated of more than one million euros.
In summary, in the operating section, the amount of expenditure reached 4,220,597 euros, 5,404,709 euros in revenue. In the investment section, expenditure amounted to 2,168,986 euros, 1,753,752 euros in revenue. A balance sheet that seems to satisfy the mayor. But at the time of questions, it was necessary to count on Nicolas Ferretto-Reggi , municipal councilor in the opposition, to fuel the debates after the lengthy presentation of the said document: "You speak of a debt repayment capacity of 2.73 years. There is an error. On the transmitted CFU, it is written 6.21 years. Then, you say that no loans were made during the mandate, this is false. In December 2020, you made a credit of 500,000 euros."
In response, the mayor confirmed the debt repayment capacity at 2.73, while promising to clarify the figures soon at the end of the council meeting. As for the loan, it was "for video surveillance," said John Bristop.
The number of employees: a deliberate political choiceBe that as it may, Nicolas Ferretto-Reggi also addressed the number of staff positions. "There's a decrease between 2020 and 2021. From 53, we'll go down to 50. And in 2024, we'll go up to 64 FTEs (full-time equivalents, Editor's note). That gives me pause. If we have a lot of employees, operations suffer."
"We have more employees," says Alain Ravanello. "We have chosen to retain management skills for the canteen and after-school activities. It's a political choice." He then adds: "People come for two hours a day, which explains the difference between the number of employees and the number of full-time equivalents. We have 64 employees, which represents 45 FTEs."
And John Brispot agrees with the majority: "What's important to us is the service provided. A municipality is not a business." It's worth noting that staff costs amount to nearly €2,300,000.
As the meeting concluded, the mayor expressed confidence: "The situation is healthy. The municipality has all the tools it needs to develop and undertake projects."
In light of the results of the vote on the main budget, the chief magistrate does not appear to have convinced everyone: five elected officials abstained and one voted against.
Also on the agenda was the deliberation regarding the election of a new deputy mayor. Vincent Clavier, in charge of regional planning, was notified of the withdrawal of his delegation of office and signature at the end of March. It was therefore proposed to the council that the deputies listed in order of importance move up one position. Patrick Laucidina thus moved up to sixth place while retaining his delegation for culture. The only candidate in the running, there was no secret ballot.
"What about Mr. Clavier's delegation?" asked Nicolas Ferretto-Reggi.
"It is assigned to the project manager for the work in progress , but we have delegated an assistant to oversee each file for the next few months," replied Alain Ravanello.
It was then Pierre Corino's turn to speak: "During the cowardly dismissal of Mr. Clavier..."
"That's your point of view," the mayor immediately interrupted.
"...We had to choose whether to stick with five or six deputies," the elected official continued. "We didn't deliberate. Was it necessary to do it?"
The mayor's response: "The decision was made, in full consultation, not to eliminate this position."
Four council members abstained from the vote.
Two representatives of the municipality to the agglomeration in 2026
As Alain Ravanello pointed out, the community council adopted an increase in the number of seats for the next term, going from 52 to 57, thus reshuffling the cards in some member municipalities. This is the case for Carcès, which had only one representative. There will be two of them sitting in the Provence Verte agglomeration in 2026. "This is a game-changer for Carcès. The resolution must be approved by the municipalities." The green light was given by Carcès' elected officials.
Var-Matin
