Montreal budget: Taxes are going up, but not as much as you feared

Montreal property taxes are going up next year, though not by as much as last time.

Most businesses will see a drop in taxes thanks to a change in how non-residential building owners are charged.

And more money is being poured into repairs to roads and water infrastructure.

“This budget will make a difference in the lives of our citizens today and for the generations to come,” Mayor Valérie Plante said as she unveiled Montreal’s $5.7-billion budget for 2019 on Thursday morning.

“It will also make a difference for our business owners, who are behind the vitality of our neighbourhoods.”

Here are the highlights.

Taxes

The average property tax hike for residential properties will be 1.7 per cent, which is Montreal’s projected inflation rate in 2019.

In Montreal’s previous budget, covering 2018, the average hike for homeowners was 3.3 per cent, an increase for which Plante has taken heat because she campaigned on a promise to raise taxes by no more than the rate of inflation (about two per cent at the time).

Residential building owners aren’t being treated equally.

The biggest hikes will hit bigger apartment buildings.

These are the average hikes for:

• Condo: 0.32 per cent
• Single-family home: 1.31 per cent
• Buildings with two to five units: 1.57 per cent
• Buildings with six or more units: 4.13 per cent.

Winners and losers

Some boroughs saw lower-than-average increases, while others will pay more than the average.

These boroughs will see the highest average tax hikes:

• Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (2.75 per cent)
• Rosemont—La-Petite-Patrie (2.58 per cent)
• L’Île-Bizard—Sainte-Geneviève (2.53 per cent)
• Villeray—Saint-Michel—Parc-Éxtension (2.16 per cent)
• Plateau-Mont-Royal (2.12 per cent)

These boroughs will see the lowest tax hikes:

• Lachine (0.55 per cent)
• Rivière-des-Prairies—Pointe-aux-Trembles (0.63 per cent)
• Saint-Léonard (0.81 per cent)
• Pierrefonds—Roxboro (1.11 per cent)
• Verdun (1.19 per cent)

Suburbs

The city of Montreal budget has an impact on suburbs on the island, which pay Montreal for shared policing, firefighting, transit and other services.

In 2019, Montreal suburbs will pay Montreal an average of two per cent more than last year for such services.

The highest increases will be in:

• Dorval Island (10.1 per cent)
• Town of Mount Royal (5.4 per cent)
• Baie-d’Urfé (5.1 per cent)
• Montreal West (4.1 per cent)
• Westmount (3.6 per cent)

These demerged suburbs will see decreases in the amount they pay for shared services:

• Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue (13.3 per cent decrease)
• Kirkland (0.2 per cent decrease)
• Senneville (0.1 per cent decrease)

Last year, suburbs were blindsided by hefty increases.

In previous years, the island’s 15 demerged cities had seen increases of about the inflation rate. But in 2018, on average, they had to pay 5.3 per cent more. Hardest hit were Town of Mount Royal (9.8 per cent) and Montreal West (9 per cent).

Non-residential properties

Owners of non-residential buildings will benefit from a change in how properties are taxed.

The city is cutting by 10 per cent the amount of taxes paid on the first $500,000 of the badessed value of non-residential buildings, including those used for offices, commerce and industry. The measures applies to buildings valued at less than $3 million.

Just under 60 per cent of Montreal’s non-residential buildings are valued at less than $500,000.

For a building valued at $450,000, the change will result in a $1,610 drop in taxes in 2019, the city says. For a $1-million building, the savings would be $1,439.

The city says it’s also keeping taxes in check for bigger buildings. For those valued at between $3 million and $10 million, the average hike will be 0.8 per cent. Those valued at more than $10 million will see average hikes of 1.8 per cent.

The overall average tax increase for the non-residential sector: 1.3 per cent.

Spending

Montreal’s budget is increasing by $233 million to reach $5.7 billion, a 4.3-per-cent increase.

The biggest line items: public security (just over $1 billion, or 18 per cent of the budget) and debt servicing ($948 million, 17 per cent)

The 2019 snow removal budget will rise by $3 million. In 2019, the city has budgeted $166.4 million. That’s 3 per cent of Montreal’s budget.

Roads, water, parks

In addition to the budget, the city published its $6.5-billion capital-works plan for the next three years.

Expect more roadwork and water repairs.

In 2018, about $436 million will be spent on roadwork.

Over the next three years, the city expects to spend about $650 million per year on such work.

Montreal will also spend more to upgrade Montreal’s dilapidated water infrastructure.

In 2018, about $440 million will be spent on repairing water mains and sewer pipes. Over the next three years, the city expects to spend $528 million per year on such work.

For both roadwork and water infrastructure, the planned annual expenditures amount to almost four times what the city was spending five years ago.

The city is also setting more money aside to protect green spaces. It has budgeted $60 million for the purchase of natural environments and $56.8 million to develop large parks.

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