THE WORK OF THE
DIRECTORATE GENERAL
OF PUBLIC FINANCES WITH
LOCAL AUTHORITIES
Communication to the Senate Finance Committee
December 2023
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Executive Summary
The Directorate General of Public Finances (DGFiP), created in 2008 by the merger of
the Directorate General of Taxation and the Directorate General of Public Accounting, is
responsible for both taxation (assessment and collection of taxes and other public revenues)
and public management (control and payment of expenditure by the State, local authorities
and hospitals, accounting management).
In 2019, the decentralised network of the DGFiP covering these two functions comprised
3,499 departments located throughout France, a number that is expected to fall to 1,761 by
2025 following the completion of the restructuring project undertaken by the DGFiP.
Approximately 93,000 employees are assigned to this body, 85% of whom work in its
decentralised network, which is mainly focused on local public management and tax services,
with a strong emphasis on contact with individual and professional taxpayers and local
authorities.
At the request of the Senate Finance Committee, the Court examined the DGFiP’s work
with the local authorities (municipalities and intermunicipal authorities for cooperation between
local authorities (EPCI)), paying particular attention to relations with rural municipalities. Its
investigation was based on interviews at central administration level, visits to two rural
departments, responses to its questionnaires and other documents produced at its request, as
well as the processing of 1,884 responses to a survey of municipalities and EPCIs.
A key authority in the financial management of local authorities
The DGFiP is a major player in the financial operations of local authorities and their public
establishments. It is responsible for collecting local authority revenues, making the resulting
financial resources available, paying their expenditure, managing their accounts and
administering the land registry records. These tasks are all the more important for local
authorities, particularly rural municipalities, as the vast majority of them have limited human
resources in these areas.
Advance payments of direct local taxes are made on time in over 98% of cases. Based
on the Court’s survey of a representative sample of local authorities, it appears that they are
satisfied with this function. They regret, however, that they are not always aware of the amount
of funding that will be allocated to them when they prepare their budgets. More than two-thirds
of the municipalities surveyed by the Court also expressed a strong expectation of support
from the DGFiP in implementing the new M57 budgetary and accounting framework. They
would like greater support for authorising departments in controlling the phases of expenditure
for which they are responsible, particularly through partnership commitments or accounting
and financial service agreements.
Maintaining and improving the reliability of land registry records is one of the core tasks
of the land services departments of departmental and regional directorates of public finances.
The development of the “innovative land services” project enabled more than 125,0
00 records
to be updated in June 2023. At the same time, the implementation of the “Manage my property”
online service for private individuals and the overhaul of the premises appraisal tools used by
DGFiP staff were successfully completed. However, despite these positive developments, the
local authorities consulted by the Court are still waiting for an improvement in the services
offered by the tax authorities with regard to property management and land registry matters,
particularly in terms of response times.
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The ongoing consolidation of the DGFiP’s regional network
On 6 June 2019, the minister for public accounts announced the implementation of a
“revised geographical structure” of the DGFiP’s offices, a project subsequently renamed the
“new local network” (NRP), in response to a twofold observation:
-
the service provided to users, particularly private individuals, required modernisation,
given the development of digital tools;
-
the unsuccessful nature of previous reorganisations of the decentralised network,
marked before 2019 by the closure each year of “small” local finance offices,
particularly those with no more than five employees.
The “new local network” has been designed
to better meet user needs for local services
while rebalancing the Directorate General’s regional network. In total, the number of
municipalities in which the DGFiP has a presence, even temporarily, should rise from 1,977 in
2019 to more than 2,570 by the
end of 2023 (the target set in the “contract of objectives and
means”), an increase of more than 30
%. This target has now been exceeded: at the end of
2022, 2,975 municipalities had a DGFiP presence. This number should rise to around 3,000
by the end of 2023. At the same time, the number of accounting posts is expected to halve
from 3,499 to 1,761 at the end of the reorganisation scheduled for 2025. New entities, the
Accounting Management Services (SGC), should bring together the former local finance
offices; a new function, that of advisor to local decision-makers (CDL), should be created to
provide elected representatives with support in financial, tax, budgetary and accounting
matters.
This apparent contradiction between a consolidation of the network and an increase in
the number of municipalities with a DGFiP presence is due to the growth in local contact points
at France Services spaces (2,601 by November 2023) and in town halls (400 regular service
points). In addition, users now have the option of paying their tax liabilities via the tobacconist
network (15,043 locations in mid-October 2023), although this network is not counted as a
DGFiP ‘presence’ in the statistics.
A comprehensive, multi-year and concerted approach
The reorganisation process lau
nched with the “new local network” is more ambitious
than previous attempts. It is based on a desire to jointly improve the way the public is
served and the relationship of proximity with local authorities, as reflected in the Directorate
General’s first “contract of objectives and means” covering the period 2020
-2022.
The multi-year approach is based on quantified targets for the establishment of new units
by 2026, the end of the NRP programme. However, the bulk of the reorganisations are
scheduled to take place by the end of 2023. They were the subject of extensive consultation
with local elected representatives, trade unions and all DGFiP staff. Maps of the proposed
locations formed the basis of the consultation process, which was conducted by the local
directors of the DGFiP in conjunction with the prefects. Consultations with staff and trade
unions were also carried out, with several letters and messages sent to staff and the setting
up of internal working groups.
The target plans were then formalised in departmental charters. These charters,
prepared by the departmental director of public finances and presented to the elected
representatives (chairs of departmental councils and/or inter-municipality councils) were not
signed in all departments, but the consultation process led to substantial changes to the initial
plans, with the creation of 180 additional local service points and more direct DGFiP services
than initially envisaged (+15 % taking into account the branches created).
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Deployment of new entities broadly in line with objectives and schedule
The deployment of the “new local network”, which is nearing completion, is broadly in
line with the objectives of the reform and the planned schedule.
The rate of consolidation of the network, whose initial objective in the first iteration of the
service plan was to eliminate half of the entities by 2019, has fallen slightly short but remains
high, with a 42 % reduction in the number of units. Consultation with elected representatives
has resulted in some units being maintained in sparsely populated areas, or in the creation of
temporary (53) or permanent (263) branches.
These reorganisations have enabled staff to be grouped together in larger entities. As a
result, the average number of staff in decentralised services (of all types) has risen from 15 to
22. At the same time, the number of smaller entities has fallen significantly, boosting the
DGFiP’s ability to guarantee a more uniform quality of service throughout the country. Whereas
there were more than 600 in 2016, only around a hundred units with fewer than five employees
will remain after the reform, 60 % of which will be branches of larger units.
97.5 % of the target network (resulting from both the abolition and creation of entities) is
in place as at 31 December 2023.
At the same time, the DGFiP’s involvement in the “France services” network is also in
line with forecasts: by the end of 2023, it is scheduled to have a presence at more than 2,601
official locations. The majority of these sites are in rural areas and in priority neighbourhoods
for urban policy.
The rural municipalities consulted by the Court expressed the most reservations about
this new location plan. Only 31 % consider it to be completely or somewhat relevant. In fact,
the closure of
small local finance offices is sometimes seen as a symptom of the State’s
withdrawal from these areas, with the loss of expert local contact on budgetary and financial
issues, against a backdrop of tension currently observed in the recruitment and training of
council officials. This consolidation of the network must be set against the quality of the service
provided and its perception by local authorities, which cannot be fully evaluated until the
deployment of advisers to local decision-makers (CDL) and accounting management services
(SGC) is complete.
Appointments of CDLs progressed at a sustained rate from 2020 to 2023. In
December 2023, 917 agents were in post, with the target set at 993 CDLs nationwide. This
target has been progressively adjusted by the DGFiP on the basis of an analysis carried
out locally by the departmental public finance directorates to take account of the size of
the public inter-municipal cooperative establishments (EPCI), the number of municipalities
within their jurisdiction and the diversity of the functions they perform. Eventually, all local
authorities should have a CDL, who can be the point of contact for several EPCIs.
The survey carried out by the Court in September 2023 already shows that CDLs are
valued highly by 90 % of municipalities, particularly in rural areas where they play an
important role among council officials. Their budgetary, tax and financial analysis work is
appreciated by 90 % of the local authorities surveyed.
A far-reaching transformation of the network, with a number of issues to
be monitored until the process is complete
This reform has resulted in an in-
depth transformation of the DGFiP’s decentralised
network. It has been carried out within a tight timescale and has resulted in adjustments to
staffing levels that are key to achieving the expected efficiency gains. It has been accompanied
by the introduction of new points of contact for local elected representatives - advisers to local
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decision-makers - and more diversified forms of DGFiP presence in the regions (branches,
France Services points, etc.).
While it is too early to draw up a definitive assessment of the restructuring operations,
the ambition of the reform, the approach and the scale of the transformations carried out are
worthy of note.
The local authorities consulted by the Court as part of this survey nonetheless highlighted
points for attention regarding the quality of service provided by the DGFiP within the framework
of this now consolidated network. Expectations are particularly high among rural municipalities,
which operate with smaller teams and need to train and support their council officials in
budgetary, accounting and financial matters.
The Court stresses that if the project is to be completed successfully, it will be necessary
to:
-
carry out an assessment in 2024 of the deployment of advisors to local decision-
makers and their links with the accounting management services, with regard to the
expectations of local councillors and their relations with them;
-
increase the involvement of the DGFiP at France Services points;
-
supplement the tools used to measure user satisfaction with surveys to measure the
access difficulties faced by certain sections of the population who are not familiar
with electronic tools.
To this end, the Court of Accounts makes the three recommendations listed below.
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Recommendations
1.
From 2024, carry out a review of the deployment of advisors to local decision-makers and the
links between these advisors and the accounting management departments with regard to their
relations with local elected representatives.
(ministry of the economy, finance and industrial
and digital sovereignty)
.
2.
Increase the involvement of the DGFiP at France Services points as part of an effort to pool
resources, while being attentive to the needs expressed.
(ministry of the economy, finance and
industrial and digital sovereignty)
.
3.
Supplement the tools used to measure user satisfaction with surveys to measure the access
difficulties faced by certain sections of the population who are not familiar with electronic tools.
(ministry of the economy, finance and industrial and digital sovereignty)
.