The mayor of Montreal said she will not alter her inaugural budget despite criticism from all corners.
The budget delivered last week included an average tax increase of 3.3 percent for all residents of Montreal -- but an average increase of 5.3 percent for agglomeration fees paid by the 15 demerged cities.
Many cities and towns on the island are now being forced to revise their budgets this week after getting the unexpected bill from the city of Montreal.
Throughout the electoral campaign Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante said she would limit tax increases to the rate of inflation, and demerged cities said until the budget was passed, they were expecting only a cost of living increase.
On Friday the mayors of the demerged cities called on Plante to suspend her budget and go back to the drawing board.
But on Monday Plante said she had heard all that criticism but is not going to revise the city's budget.
"Ultimately I find it is a courageous position that we took deciding that we're not going to just throw the bill at the future generation. We just need to invest massively. Right now it just costs so much when we do some repairs when it's an emergency so we're taking our responsibility," said Plante.
She specifically referenced water main repairs, saying that the damage caused by a broken pipe costs much more to fix than replacing or repairing a water main of dubious quality before it breaks.
