Regional audit chamber finds Dreux ran €1.4M in unpaid invoices, unregulated pay hikes, and irregular procurement under mayor Pierre-Frédéric Billet's early administration

A June 2026 report by the Chambre régionale des comptes Centre-Val de Loire found that Dreux, under mayor Pierre-Frédéric Billet, left €1.4 million in invoices unpaid between 2019 and 2021, granted a former chief-of-staff pay exceeding legal caps by over €41,000, failed to complete required staff evaluations, and ran two major public contracts (an ice rink and the Pôle des Bâtes cultural complex) through legally fragile, poorly competitive procedures with large cost overruns. The chamber issued six formal recommendations; Billet's administration acknowledged the problems and made corrective changes from late 2022 onward.