The mayors of 15 suburban Montreal cities met in Westmount Friday to call on Valerie Plante to suspend her municipal budget.

Released Wednesday, the Montreal city budget tax increases far higher than the rate of inflation.

Fees for agglomeration services are up an average of 5.3 per cent – as high as 9.8 per cent in the Town of Mount-Royal -- and that’s before mayors issue their own tax increases.

Homeowners in demerged cities could be paying as much as $440 more in agglomeration fees for services such as police, firefighters, water and others in the current 2018 budget.

The mayors are calling on Plante to revisit her budget and decrease spending if necessary so they don’t have to pass on those increases to their taxpayers.

“We’re all going to have to rework our budgets,” said Montreal West Mayor Beny Masella. “You mentioned TMR. They’re going to have to go find in their budget how they’re going to incorporate that 9.8 per cent increase. I’m sure it’s going to be, for all of us, different combinations. But it’s a combination of passing some to residents, making cuts in some services, maybe, different ways of financing some of our longer-term projects. Some of our other investments may need to wait to be able to incorporate this tax increase foisted upon us by the city of Montreal into our local budgets.”

Plante said she has no intention of redoing her budget. Mayors say if required, they will appeal to Municipal Affairs Minister Martin Coiteux.

The amount fees are increased, in dollar amount and percentage, for each demerged city are:

  • Baie-D'urfe - $628,600 (5.7 per cent)
  • Beaconsfield - $1,040,600 (5.2 per cent)
  • Cote-St-Luc - $950,300 (3.5 per cent)
  • Dollard-Des-Ormeaux - $2,082,200 (5.3 per cent)
  • Dorval - $2,901,400 (4.2 per cent)
  • Hampstead - $389,100 (4 per cent)
  • L'Ile-Dorval - $4,900 (7.1 per cent)
  • Kirkland - $818,200 (2.8 per cent)
  • Town of Mount-Royal - $4,458,400 (9.8 per cent)
  • Montreal-East - $550,300 (3.2)
  • Montreal-West - $465,400 (9 per cent)
  • Pointe-Claire - $3,691,400 (6.3 per cent)
  • Senneville - $117,900 (3.6 per cent)
  • Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue - $695,900 (7.4 per cent)
  • Westmount - $3,459,900 (6.7 per cent)