ST-LAMBERT — It’s a bedroom South Shore community with lots of parks, Victorian-style homes and plenty of backyard pools.
But taking a plunge into one of those private swimming holes is about to get more expensive for home owners next year.
Residents with in-ground pools will have to pay a flat rate tax of $70.
Owners of above ground pools will be charged $50.
“It’s really just to try and get your money,” Ted Judge said.
The St-Lambert home owner bought his house with an in-ground pool seven years ago.
He uses it a lot during the summer and thinks the pool tax is nothing more than a tax grab by the city.
“I don’t think it will change people’s use of their pools,” he said.
The mayor insist the new fee is a way to remind people to conserve water.
Alain Dépatie argues residents consume a lot more water than they pay in taxes.
There are no water meters in St-Lambert. The city buys its water from Longueuil and charges residents through property taxes at fixed rates.
People caught using water excessively with automatic sprinklers or washing their cars everyday will be fined.
“By education we hope people won’t do that,” Dépatie said.
But not everyone buys the education argument.
Judge worries pool owners are being targeted unfairly.
“If it’s a water issue it should be fairly based on all uses of water not just pools,” he said.
The pool tax is on top of a property tax increase of 3.9 percent for home owners starting January 1st.
“They’ve increased, increased ever since the agglomeration and they’ve cut services. So the usual,” one resident said.
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