Grenoble increases its property tax and makes its museums free

This increase, "its only tax lever", must be examined Monday in city council and will be added to an increase of 7% of the bases decided nationally.

It aims to raise around 44 million euros, half of which will be used to "deal with inflation, the cost of energy, or even the increase in the index point of agents", according to a press release from the environmental municipality.

The other half will be paid into an existing investment plan dedicated to transitions (12 million euros), the strengthening of public services and the establishment of a social and climate shield (11 million euros), according to the same source.

This shield, which should be launched this year, "will concern the first three expenditure items of Grenoble residents, which are also the three main levers of greenhouse gas emissions: housing and energy, mobility and public spaces, as well as food," the statement said.

The City also intends to make free access for all to the Natural History Museum, the Stendhal Museum and the permanent collections of the Grenoble Museum. It also provides for reinforced social pricing in canteens and wants to move towards total free school supplies.

The announced increase in the property tax was deemed "regrettable" by the municipal opposition group Nasa (Nouvel Air, socialists and relatives), which highlights in a press release the risk of "weakening many Grenoble residents with low resources, the pensioners with modest pensions, but also those of the middle class".

"It's over 32% on the sheet of Grenoble residents when the city is in debt as it has never been in debt", underlines to AFP the opposition municipal councilor Alain Carignon (LR), who has called on Grenoble residents to demonstrate against the measure on Monday.

The city of Grenoble had not increased its tax rate on built land since 2009, according to the city's website.

In 2021, this rate was 54,72%, the fourth highest in France behind Angers, Amiens and Poitiers, according to data from the UNPI observatory of property taxes.