Montreal budget of $5 billion means a 2% increase in taxes

Most residents of the city of Montreal will see their taxes go up in 2016.

The city posted its $5.06 billion budget on Wednesday morning, which is a 2.4 per cent increase in spending.

Most of the extra $120 million in spending is going toward infrastructure, as the city outlined several weeks ago in its Capital Works Plan.

The increased spending will be covered by a 1.9 per cent increase in property taxes.

The increase is not universal. Homeowners in the Plateau-Mont Royal borough will see a tax hike of 3.7 per cent, while those in Outremont face a 3.3 per cent raise.

Taxes are going up 2.5 per cent in Cote des Neiges-Notre Dame de Grace, 2.4 per cent in Lachine, 2.3 per cent in Rosemont and St. Laurent, and 2.2 per cent in the Southwest borough.

Meanwhile property taxes on businesses are being hiked by an average of 0.9 per cent, but that varies wildly borough to borough.

Business taxes in the Plateau will rise 2.9 per cent, while in St. Laurent they are dropping by 1.3 per cent.

Some highlights from the budget include:

-$14 million for Montreal’s 375^th Anniversary Society, which is $4 million more than in 2015.
-An added $20.7 million to the STM this year, for a total of $429.8 million
-$680.4 million for the police department
-$351 million for the fire department
-$382.5 million for water management
-$138.1 million for road repairs, including potholes and cracks
-$160.6 million for waste management, down $5.4 million from 2015
-$533.1 million for cultural and recreational activities, as well as parks. This includes the Biodome, Insectarium, Planetarium, Montreal Arts Council, Pointe-a-Calliere, urban forests
-$159.4 million for snow removal, up $3.7 million from 2015
-$16.1 million more funding for the boroughs. Of this, $3.3 million has been added for public sewer connections.
-$103.6 million forecasted in savings once Bill 15 for union pension reform is adopted.

Mayor Denis Coderre said he was pleased the 2016 was able to keep spending increases to a minimum.

"The city of Montreal has never been in such a good financial state," said Coderre.

Opposition leader Luc Ferrandez, who is also the mayor of Plateau-Mont-Royal said Coderre is spending more money than ever and not adequately cutting expenses.

“You'll see that it's mostly the boroughs that are cutting and when it comes close to the city he doesn't cut at all,” he said.

At the same time, Coderre said the central city was not responsible for tax increases in each borough.

Referring specifically to the Plateau-Mont Royal, which will see the highest tax increase in the city, Coderre said "The Plateau is just playing games... The problem with the Plateau is that they are ruled by dogma," said Coderre.

 

2016 Budget in Brief (source: City of Montreal)