‘I don’t have the flexibility’ to reduce tax hike: mayor
Don’t expect a reprieve.
Mayor Valérie Plante says she has no intention of backing down on the 3.3-per-cent municipal tax hike announced in her budget last week.
On Monday, a reporter asked her: Is there any chance she will lower the rate of increase?
“No, because I don’t have the flexibility to do that,” Plante answered.
She described the budget as “responsible” and “courageous.”
The 2018 budget was widely panned because it broke Plante’s election promise on taxes.
She had vowed to keep tax hikes around the inflation rate, which the Conference Board of Canada recently forecast to be about 1.7 per cent in 2018.
Plante, who took over as mayor in November, said she was saddled with a $358-million shortfall by the previous Denis Coderre administration. And she said she decided to increase water taxes to pay for a sorely needed boost in spending to improve the city’s porous sewers and water mains.
“I know this is not a sexy measure, I know that it’s not fun to get an extra tax (increase) for water,” Plante said.
“But at the same time, we had to make those investments. Ultimately, I think it is a courageous position that we took — deciding that we’re not going to just throw the bill at future generations. We need to invest massively” on the water network.
Montreal planned to spend $304 million on water upgrades in 2017. The Plante administration has said up to $500 million will be spent in 2018.
Plante and her Projet Montréal did not mention a water-tax increase before or after the election.
The water tax had been frozen since 2013.
Under Plante’s budget, scheduled to be adopted next week, average Montreal residential taxpayers will see a 3.3-per-cent increase on their municipal tax bill in 2018. That takes into account hikes in the general tax, the borough tax and the water tax.
Plante also had bad news for Montreal Island suburbs.
They were surprised to receive big increases in the amounts they will have to pay Montreal for such shared services as police, firefighting and water infrastructure in 2018.
The average increase was 5.3 per cent, but two municipalities — Montreal West and Town of Mount Royal — face hikes of nine per cent or more.
On Friday, the mayors of Montreal’s 15 demerged municipalities demanded Plante rework the budget to reduce the tax burden.
“We’re not planning on revising (the amounts), but we will be discussing with them in the coming days just to make sure that there’s a better understanding and to listen to them,” Plante said.
“It’s important to hear their concerns.”