Tax bills for Montrealers are on the rise by an average of 3.3 per cent.

The City of Montreal's new budget includes a 1.1 per cent hike as part of the ongoing overhaul of the leaky water system, and an average 2.2 per cent increase in property evaluations.

Mayor Gerald Tremblay said that the increase is affordable.

"If you look at the average price of a house, $347,000, is he willing to pay $107 per year which is about $8.92 per month to have better access to the city of Montreal, better services in parks and libraries, infrastructures, housing, and environment where they can live peacefully?" said Tremblay. "The citizen I think can understand and is willing to pay a little bit more."

That 'little bit more' varies from borough to borough.

The water tax increase is universal, but the tax increase based on property valuations varies from 1.4 percent in Pierrefonds-Roxboro, to 4.6 per cent in the Plateau.

Residents of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve will also receive one of the steepest increases, of 4.9 per cent for both taxes.

Accountants said the reason for the sharp hikes in those boroughs is because the city was slow to raise evaluations on the considerable number of duplexes and triplexes in those neighbourhoods.

The total budget for the City of Montreal is $4.9 billion.

About 20 per cent of that amount is going toward public security, with the police department budget going up 3.6 per cent to $686 million, and the fire department budget up 6 per cent to $348 million.

Officials said that the considerable number of public protests that have taken place in Montreal in the past 18 months are costing the city.
                                     

  • Borough-by-borough tax increases
    Ahuntsic-Cartierville  3.2%
    Anjou  0.5%
    Cote-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grace 2.5%
    Lachine  2.8%
    LaSalle  3.4%
    L’Ile-Bizard—Sainte-Genevieve     3.0%
    Mercier—Hochelaga-Maisonneuve 4.9%
    Montreal-Nord     1.7%
    Outremont    3.3%
    Pierrefords-Roxboro  1.4%
    Plateau—Mont-Royal 5.7%
    Riviere-des-Prairies—Pointe-aux-Trembles 3.3%
    Rosemont—La-Petite-Patrie 4.1%
    Saint-Laurent       3.2%
    Saint-Leonard 2.1%
    Sud-Ouest   4.6%
    Verdun 2.3%
    Ville-Marie 2.3%
    Villeray—Saint-Michel—Parc-Extension 4.1%
    Ville de Montreal 3.3%