Montreal budget keeps property tax below inflation, with money for affordable housing, policing

Releasing its 2022 budget three days before Christmas, the Plante administration held onto a promise it made during the election campaign to keep property taxes below the cost of inflation, with an eye to diversifying it revenues streams.

The largest share of the $6.45 million budget – 17.7 per cent of it – is going to public security. Montreal police will get a $45-million increase, for a total of $724.1 million.

“We’ve been all affected by the rise in violence and the use of guns. It’s been a very fast trend,” said Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante.

Affordable housing also got a boost, with 12,000 units allocated for next year at a cost of $111 million. Over a 10-year period, there's $19.54 billion earmarked for the issue, with some of that money going to 60,000 affordable housing units.

A total of $273.3 million will go to bike path infrastructure over the next decade.

The City of Montreal will keep its promise to increase taxes on residential properties below 2 per cent for the coming year.

Borough property tax increases will vary from a mere 0.1 per cent in Rivieres-des-Prairies to 5.1 per cent in Ile-Bizard-Ste-Genevieve.

However, the executive committee's memo noted that the city is looking to “diversify our sources of revenues to adapt to new realities.”

Some examples including an increase to the property transfer tax, better known as the "welcome tax" on multi-million-dollar real estate transactions. The welcome tax is increasing to 3.5 per cent, up from 3 per cent, for $2-million transactions and up and 4 per cent for $3 million transactions and up.

The city also has a plan to install water meters in non-residential buildings so it can monitor water consumption with an eye toward taxation.

It also plans to expand the number of parking garages that have to pay taxes on their square footage, with an eye toward the taxation starting at 2023.

Opposition councillor Alan DeSousa said the budget is out of touch with taxpayers' everyday lives.

“Nothing in this budget passes muster. It’s past its due date. There’s nothing in regards to economics, whether it’s to support small businesses or to help taxpayers,” he said.

Another hike in this year’s budget has some members of the agglomeration angry. Agglomeration cities like Montreal West pay out to the centre city, with an increase of 2.5 per cent this year.

“We’re still having to cover a lot of old deficits, so that 2.5 is really a 3.3,” said Montreal West Mayor Beny Masella, who said towns like his are overcharged for services in relation to the centre city. “We feel that when you have not made any real effort to reduce expenses, that’s the frustrating part.”

Montreal’s executive committee chairperson Dominique Ollivier said the increase is realistic.

“If you take out the deficit from last year, it’s only an increase of 2.5 per cent, which I think is more than reasonable,” she said.