Agglo council adopts budget despite objections from suburbs

Too expensive, with too few of the projects we asked for, suburban mayors complained Wednesday as the Montreal Agglomeration Council adopted the city’s $6.4-billion capital works budget for 2018-2020, despite suburban opposition.

Mayors of the 15 on-island suburbs voted against the budget, which outlines major projects planned for the next three years, including roadwork, water mains, sewers, bike paths and parks.

What most irritated independent municipalities, Beaconsfield Mayor Georges Bourelle said, is that the projects they were hoping for were not given priority.

For example, no money is budgeted this year for the Cavendish Blvd. extension, while only $13 million is allocated in 2019 and 2020, he noted.

The total price tag for the project is estimated at $355 million.

Similarly, no money has been budgeted in 2018 to extend Rodolphe-Forget Blvd. in the east of the island or Jacques-Bizard Blvd. in Île-Bizard, the mayors complained.

And only $1 million will be spent this year on a long-promised north-south boulevard in western Pierrefonds, with $4 million budgeted for the project in 2019 and $8.5 million in 2020, they said.

“We’re disappointed because we had a meeting with Pierre Desrochers (former chairperson of Montreal’s executive committee under the previous administration) last year, and we expressed to Mr. Desrochers things that we wanted to see, our priorities. None of them really made it into the PTI (capital works budget) this year,” said Bourelle, who is vice-chairperson of the Agglomeration’s Finance and Administration Commission.

The mayors also criticized the capital budget for what they called excessive spending increases.

“We’re also concerned about the debt. The debt is going up substantially. It’s going to be 102 per cent this year,” Bourelle said.

“We’re concerned about the level of the debt and the possible cost of that debt,” he added, noting that interest rates are rising, making borrowing more expensive.

But despite harsh words from the mayors for tax increases implemented by Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante’s administration, Bourelle said he wasn’t blaming Plante.

“We’ve lived with these problems for several years. It’s not necessarily something to do with this particular administration,” he said.

Montreal holds 87 per cent of voting power on the Agglomeration Council, while the suburbs hold only 13 per cent.