a municipality in Tarn launches a citizen loan to finance work in its city center

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The town of Labastide-de-Lévis, in Tarn, has been waiting for this work for 20 years. A 300,000 euro project to transform the heart of the village. The parking lot will be modified, the bitumen replaced by trees for this result; a green place, financed in part thanks to citizens. A first in Occitania.

“In 38 days, we raised 100,000 euros. We hoped for 25,000, 58,000 or 100,000, that was the maximum, we got the maximum. It’s much faster than we expected and it’s more important”notes François Vergnes, mayor (Without label) of Labastide-de-Lévis. Among the residents who financed the operation, the local osteopath agreed to lend 300 euros: “I found that the project was a good way to promote the village, while trying to earn a little money”explains Théo Martin.

In four years, he will recover the amount lent with an additional 20 euros of interest. This is called a participatory loan. The town hall worked with a start-up which convinced 84 people, including those from outside the municipality, to invest up to 10,000 euros for some.

“Investors are reimbursed every quarter for four years. That is to say, we receive the capital and interest as if we were playing at being the bank of our municipality. And so, every three months, we are reimbursed”explains Arthur Moraglia, president of the financing platform. “We propose to play at the bank, but to play in a very serious way and above all in a profitable way. The idea is that we are win-win, that is to say that everyone finds their interest, we pay less and they get more”adds the city councilor.

The loan allows the municipality to have the money more quickly to start the work, at a rate of 3.2%, lower than with a bank. Social housing could also soon be financed in the same way. In the village restaurant, the citizen loan is attractive. “It gives a new dynamic to our so-called rural areas, which also allows us to develop the dynamics of the municipalities, so it’s interesting”estimates a resident. “I think the project is superb and I think we can even go beyond, because it could also be building renovations, it could be a church, it could be, why not, a collective restaurant too, because it’s community today, a bar, I think there are a lot of things to do around that.”suggests a client.

Elsewhere in France, such as in Pas-de-Calais, residents have just lent 100,000 euros to the town of Sallaumines to renovate a school group thanks to participatory borrowing.