“That's it, the stage has been passed”: two municipalities formalize their merger on the first day of 2025, and it raises concerns

The two communes of Saint-Denis and Pierrefitte-sur-Seine officially merged this Wednesday, January 1, 2025, creating the second largest commune in the region. This new city is now called the new commune of Saint-Denis.

This is the result of an approach that began in the spring of 2023, following the desire of PS mayors to merge their two municipalities: Mathieu Hanotin, Saint-Denis, and Michel Fourcade, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine.

The elected officials of the two cities celebrated this initiative by cutting the traditional red ribbon bearing the logo of the new municipality, at a crossroads where the two signs still face each other. “That's it, the stage has been passed, we are united!”, declares Mathieu Hanotin, according to Le Parisien.

The new municipality of Saint-Denis officially has 149,781 inhabitants, according to the town hall, allowing it to obtain an allocation reserved for merged municipalities with a total population of less than 150,000.

Many changes

This initiative will allow the inhabitants of Pierrefitte to benefit from many advantages such as: gradual implementation of free school canteens, significant reduction in property tax, etc.

A merger that also allows the city of Saint-Denis to pocket a sum of 6.6 million euros from the State as a “seed grant”. This aid is given to cities that merge.

“People are upset. We're going to be under the supervision of Saint-Denis. There's a problem somewhere. It means that the municipal council is not capable of managing its own city”, confesses Léon-Christian, 67, who has lived in Pierrefitte for more than twenty-five years.