Minor property tax hike tabled with 2018 budget

Mayor says construction boom has helped increase housing values

Pointe-Claire presented its 2018 budget Tuesday night. It had not been formally adopted by the West Island Gazette’s deadline, but the numbers presented for council’s consideration are as follows. The $135.9-million budget is up $4 million — an increase of 2.9 per cent — from 2017. The residential property tax rate is up by one per cent, the second lowest property tax increase in five years. The same tax rate percentage increase will apply to businesses. Apply the 2018 mill rate to an estimated average Pointe-Claire home valued at $394,110 and the homeowner would pay $3,511 in municipal taxes, an increase of $50 over the 2017 estimated average home tax bill. “The quality of life in PointeClaire continues to benefit all owners, because the appeal of our city has drastically increased the number of new construction and renovation projects, which increases the value of housing inventory,” Mayor John Belvedere said in a prepared statement. “These improvements help enhance the wealth of owners thanks to the appreciation in the value of their property.” Residential development in the city includes various multi-unit condo and townhouse developments being constructed along Hymus Blvd. The location is considered ideal because the future light-rail network — known by its acronym REM — will have a station nearby, in what is considered to be the core of the city’s centre. Pointe-Claire’s draft plan for the development of the city’s central core encourages active transport, be it walking, cycling or some form of public transit. The majority of de-merged municipalities were given a credit by the Montreal Agglomeration Council for 2018 as a result of an adjustment made to the agglomeration formula which calculates the theoretical commercial land wealth of a municipality. PointeClaire’s credit for 2018 is $600,000.

AGGLO CONTRIBUTION

But the city’s contribution to the Montreal agglomeration for regional services including firefighting and law enforcement will still sit at an estimated $60.4 million — 44 per cent of the city’s budget. Close to 50 per cent of each residential, commercial and industrial tax bill in the city will go to the agglo. The exact amount owed to the agglo won’t be available until its budget is adopted in January. The de-merged municipalities that table budgets prior to the tabling of the agglomeration factor in, on average, a two per cent increase in payments just in case. The agglo contribution represents the largest chunk of the Pointe-Claire’s budget. The second largest piece of the budget pie — at 14 per cent — goes to culture and leisure. The three-year Capital Investment Program lists an estimated $38.6 million in investments for 2018, including $22.3 million in upgrades to streets, sidewalks and public utilities, with the investments for 2019 and 2020 to be determined. “For the next two years we will define investment priorities while respecting the ability of residents to pay and the potential of projects to be completed,” Belvedere said.