Property tax. Here’s how these villages are managing to lower this tax that keeps rising

“Our town has too much money.” This is a rare statement from an elected official. However, this is what the mayor of Fréchède (Hautes-Pyrénées), Pascale Abadie, says to explain the feat of her municipality, which has managed to reduce its property tax by 96%! Fréchède’s prosperity has a very specific source: it comes from the annual taxes collected by the village on electricity pylons that have crossed it since 1994. Another element, far from being insignificant, is that the town has only 43 inhabitants. “We decided to let them benefit from the money we have,” the mayor explains. “We could have even done it before.”

Elected four years ago, Pascale Abadie wanted to take the time to assess her town hall’s expenses before voting for a reduction and found that she didn’t have much to finance, apart from maintaining roads and buildings. Won’t she regret this reduction in the event of an unforeseen event? “No, you know, we are entitled to a lot of state aid if a natural disaster occurs. We enjoy a good quality of life here, we don’t find ourselves in the ambient catastrophic discourse.” Think twice before giving up everything for a life of gentle taxation in Fréchède. Because almost no surface area is buildable. Since this town does not have a local urban plan, it is up to the State to validate building permits. And it rejected four of them because of the dispersion of housing. “The authorities do not want a house to be located more than 400 m from the fire reserve (water tank made available to firefighters, Editor’s note) ” regrets the mayor.

Unique situations

Fréchède is one of 409 town halls – out of 35,000 listed in the country – that have reduced their property tax in 2024; that is 1.2% of the municipalities. The other towns will increase or maintain their tax level this year. But even at a constant rate, residents will see their tax bill climb. Because the cadastral value of a property – the estimate by the tax administration of what it would bring in if rented – is indexed each year on inflation. It is therefore mechanically necessary to plan for an increase of at least 3.9%.

What is the secret of these municipalities that are so light on property tax? There is no single answer. These villages, often without major expenditures, are part of their own context. In Ouistreham (Calvados), for example, residents were pleased to benefit from a 15% reduction in 2024, which is however far from compensating for the 28% increase voted three years ago to cover the losses of the local casino during the pandemic. Since then, the establishment has recovered and the municipality has been able to loosen the grip.

In Camaret-sur-Mer (Finistère), the 60% increase in the tax on second homes has allowed a bonus of -6.6% in property tax. “This is a political choice,” explains Boris Dumont, Director General of Services. “Almost no one can afford to live here all year round. We wanted to make a gesture for the people of Camaret. Contrary to what people think, the average income here is not very high.”

Inevitable increases

La Houssière, a Vosges town of 518 souls, has reduced its property tax by 31%. The explanation is, here too, due to a particular situation. Until then, residents did not pay a levy for household waste collection. The intercommunality, recovering the competence in this matter, imposed a tax on them. “The people there annoyed me,” grumbles the mayor, Jean-Paul Boulanger, “by telling me that I no longer had the right to include it in my budget.” In return, the elected official with a strong temperament negotiated the reduction of the property tax. And obtained, as a bonus, financial compensation that he intends to invest in the renovation of municipal housing, in order to provide his town with a reliable source of income – “a mayor is CEO of a multinational with the means of a majorette club,” says the councilor.

Future increases, however, seem inevitable. Within four years, the State will revalue the rental value of homes, which has not been updated for half a century. Furthermore, property tax occupies an increasing place in a town hall’s budget, often representing half of its revenue. The reduction in State subsidies and the elimination of local taxes explain this. “No mayor increases property tax for fun,” sighs Antoine Homé, co-president of the finance committee of the Association of Mayors of France. “They just want to maintain the quality of public services.”