The new socialist mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, unveiled an audit on the management of the City.

"We will end the year with negative net savings of several million euros", alarmed the socialist, who denounced in passing the legacy of Jean-Claude Gaudin, in power for 25 years in the Marseille city . 

In Marseille, the heavy legacy of Jean-Claude Gaudin, mayor from 1995 to 2020, has still not been paid.

Benoît Payan, the new socialist councilor, presented on Tuesday an audit of the city's accounts between 2014 and 2019, commissioned from the firm Deloitte et Associés.

And according to these results, the finances of the second largest city in France are in the red.

Benoît Payan denounced a distorted balance sheet and a debt hidden by the Gaudin majority.

"We are very, very below the alert threshold. We will end the year 2020 with negative net savings of several million euros," he said. 

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"The money has been spent wrongly and through" 

"How Marseille got there? It is because of the financial mismanagement. The money was spent indiscriminately. In Marseille, it is the great heritage lottery, not the one that is being restored but that that we squander. For example, the City is the largest landowner in Marseille. For autan, we have left our heritage to rot on its feet, "lamented the city councilor. 

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Benoît Payan promises savings 

The new mayor deplores in particular unnecessary or badly negotiated investments, such as the work on the Vélodrome stadium or the ice rink, almost twice as expensive as that of Strasbourg, yet presented as equivalent in size.

According to

France Bleu

, 46 million euros per year are for example spent on debt interest.

The City is heading straight for bankruptcy, according to Benoît Payan, who promises savings and global restructuring.

First act: he will try to renegotiate with the State the cost of the arrangements planned to host nautical events for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.