Mayors express their "astonishment" after the announcement of cuts to the training budget for local government employees.

"We wish to express our astonishment and profound dissatisfaction," wrote the AMF and the association of major French cities.

"A government amendment to the draft finance bill for 2026 introduced a mechanism for collecting revenue paid by local authorities as part of the mandatory contribution to the National Centre for Territorial Public Service (CNFPT)," the authors point out.

The budget of the public institution that provides continuing training for local government employees could thus be cut by 35 million euros, the Higher Council of the Territorial Public Service (CSFPT) denounced in a press release on January 21.

The CNFPT, financed by a contribution from local authorities corresponding to 0,9% of their payroll, now sees this envelope capped at 397 million euros, the remainder going to the State.

The center has an annual budget of 430 million euros, and this "draft" is equivalent to cutting it by 8% of its projected revenue in 2026, according to the CSFPT press release.

Mayors' associations wrote to the minister that "this measure is unacceptable. Regarding the method, it was introduced without prior consultation or informing the joint advisory bodies. Furthermore, it is deeply shocking that the State should allocate a portion of the contributions to a training organization whose operation it does not participate in."

"This measure directly calls into question the ability of the CNFPT to carry out the missions entrusted to it by law, at the risk of weakening the policy of training and support for agents of the territorial public service," they protest.

That is why, "failing to remove this provision from the draft finance law for 2026", the elected officials are asking Ms. de Montchalin to "implement the provisions to eliminate its effects in management".

The CNFPT is responsible for the continuing education of nearly 2 million local government employees.