Mayor’s budget out of order: opposition
Capital works plan must come first, Perez contends
Montreal opposition leader Lionel Perez says Mayor Valérie Plante is putting the money before the planning.
He said Plante’s administration has broken a provincial rule by bringing in an operating budget before a capital-works plan. The operating budget covers day-today expenses, while the three-year capital-works plan tackles largerscale, longer-term infrastructure projects and is financed largely through long-term borrowing.
“It’s a legislative requirement for the (capital-works budget) to come out before the operating budget,” Perez told reporters Friday at city hall, where the city’s finance commission was studying the operating budget, unveiled by Plante on Wednesday.
“The reason: it’s a planning tool. First, you have to know what is the work that you’re planning to do. What are the projects you’re going to be going forward with? And then once you have that, then you can know what expenses you’re going to need in which services.”
Perez pointed to the city’s water department as an example.
The operating budget calls for an increase in the city water tax that will bring in about $27 million in additional revenue, he noted.
“But we only see about $1 million in the water department (budget) for eight additional positions. The rest of the money is being used to spend in the capital-works budget, which hasn’t been adopted yet.”
The city says there is no ambiguity because all the money from the water tax goes directly into Montreal’s water fund, which is dedicated to water infrastructure.
As for Perez’s charge that the city is breaking a provincial rule, officials in Plante’s office did not respond to a Montreal Gazette request for comment.
The capital-works budget will be released Jan. 31, one week after the operating budget is scheduled to be adopted by city council.
Perez said it’s “the first time in the history of Montreal that they’re adopting the operating budget before the capital-works budget. It’s really a lack of rigour, a lack of co-ordination on the part of the new administration.”
Quebec law says municipalities must pass the following year’s capital-works budget and operating budget before Dec. 31.
In election years, when a new administration is voted in, the city is allowed to pass the operating budget in January.
However, the capital-works plan must still be presented beforehand, Perez said.
A city official confirmed the city did not ask Quebec for permission to delay the introduction of its capital works plan.
Perez said he will ask Quebec’s municipal affairs department to investigate the legal implications of the delay in the operating budget.
Perez is leader of Ensemble Montréal. That’s the new name, announced Thursday, for the party of former mayor Denis Coderre – Équipe Denis Coderre.
It’s the second time Perez’s party has taken a crack at a new name.
In December, a few days after the party’s first attempt, Quebec’s director-general of elections informed the party that their choice — Mouvement Montréal – had already been taken.