The budget debate In a few words ....
The budget debate is an essential stage in the budgetary procedure for local authorities. It informs elected representatives and fosters participative democracy in the deliberative assemblies, often by projecting the actions of the syndicat mixte over several years. It includes the following information
the assumptions used to draw up the draft budget, based on forecasts of operating expenditure and revenue;
presentation of multi-year commitments, in particular those relating to investment;
proposed investment guidelines andinformation on the structure and management of outstanding debt.
Targets for actual operating expenditure and the community's financing requirements.
The budget debate thus provides an opportunity to assess the financial situation of the Syndicat Mixte, in order to better define the budgetary choices to be made in light of the resilience plan for the Lac de Serre-Ponçon, as approved by deliberation no. 2023-36 of November 8, 2023, the foreseeable financial support it will receive from its major institutional partners, and the self-financing capacities that can be mobilized by the members of the public establishment. The budget analysis is based in particular on the balance sheet as provisionally drawn up by the S.M.A.D.E.S.E.P. departments.
Below is a summary of the budget guidelines for 2024
- A positive balance sheet for 2023
The provisional balance sheet for the 2023 budget year shows overall expenditure of €2.65 million, with investment limited to €770,000. Despite the budgetary programming of works established by the vote of the budget on April 11, 2023, these investment operations did not start due to a very high lake level at the end of the year.
On the other hand, after the impact of the exceptional summer tidal range of 2022, the syndicate's operations have returned to a certain degree of normality: expenditure and income have risen sharply, partly due to the return of boating activity on the lake (fuel sales and mooring rentals), and partly due to the engineering work carried out as part of the Serre-Ponçon lake resilience plan.
In 2023, the level of own resources will reach a record €1.27 million (excluding surplus carried forward), which is more than double the statutory contributions received by the syndicat mixte from its 5 member structures (i.e. €535,000, an amount frozen since 2022). This result is due in particular to the return of port activity (and its effective marketing), as well as to the royalties received this year for safety work on the tail of the embrunais reservoir.
The 2023 financial year will show a surplus of more than €300,000, close to that recorded in 2021 (+€350,000).
- Ambitious forecasts for 2024
The ambitious programming of the resilience plan is one of the syndicate's budgetary priorities. In addition to the work programmed at the start of the year (slipways worth €1.8 million inc. VAT), expenditure relating to the development of the Saint-Vincent-les-Forts nautical base (€400,000) is also proposed.
The foreseeable evolution of operating expenses for the 2024 budget should see an increase of almost €400,000, justified by the increase in general expenses (to take into account the inflationary effect and the "unforeseen" item of almost €140,000, close to the €155,000 entered in the 2023 forecast budget), by growth in personnel costs (maintenance of the position of project manager for the resilience plan, despite the return of the Tourism Project Manager after a year's leave, annualization of 2 technical staff, full expenditure on public beach surveillance..), by the necessary transfer to the investment section, and by the foreseeable increase in financial expenses (short-term loans required for the VAT advance and the advance on acquired subsidies).
On the operating revenue side, and barring any exceptional drought affecting the lake's summer rating, own resources are expected to remain at a high level, with the application of the new port tariff schedule and the assessment of AOT fees largely offsetting the absence of the compensation claimed every two years for navigation safety work at the tail of the reservoir (€160,000 in 2023).
Taking account of inflation on statutory contributions (in accordance with the S.M.A.DE.SE.P. bylaws), could make it possible to ensure this compensation, which seems necessary in view of the investments required this year to clean up the reservoir (very high levels of macro-waste following the December 2023 floods). We also note EDF's exceptional assistance, increasing its usual support by €218,000 to support the lake's resilience plan (€200,000 for boat slips) and the treatment of driftwood on the lake (€18,000).