“That’s quite a sum”: Montrealers digesting upcoming residential tax hikes

Many Montrealers are rethinking their budgets after finding out the Plante administration is raising property taxes by an average of 4.9 per cent.

Homeowner Geraldine Spurr, who lives in the city’s Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough, was among those upset by the city’s announcement that her taxes will be going up by hundreds of dollars next year.

“I was really surprised,” she told Global News as she was putting up her Christmas lights.

As part of the Plante administration’s 2024 budget announced Wednesday, residential property taxes in Côte-des-Neiges-NDG are going up by 5.5 per cent next year. It’s one of the steepest increases in the city.

Spurr is retired and lives on a fixed income. She was still digesting past hikes.

“We were in the middle of a three-year tax increase already. I can’t understand that we would pay more,” she said.

Pierrefonds-Roxboro is the unwitting owner of the highest residential tax increase on the island at 7.2 per cent.

“I think it’s going to be about another $270 a year for me,” said Pierrefonds condo owner Rosemary Della Rocca. “That’s quite a sum. You know, you cut back here and there, you don’t know where else to cut back anymore.”

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Pierrefonds-Roxboro mayor Jim Beis called the 7.2 per cent increase “massive.”

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“We’re talking about vulnerable seniors, for example, that are trying to stay in their homes that now may consider downsizing,” he said. “Meanwhile, we’re hearing about aimless expenses and spending in Montreal by the different levels of power in municipal affairs.”

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Beis was referring to a recent string of spending scandals, including one that say the head of the executive committee step down because of lavish dinners while on a business trip.

The Plante administration is planning $7 billion in spending next year. Beis would have preferred a smaller tax hike.

“What about maybe putting a halt on some projects, for example, throughout Montreal that can give some folks at least some breathing room to allow them to re-establish themselves, particularly post-pandemic?” Beis said.

People who rent apartments are concerned their monthly payments will go up, because their landlords will be paying more to the city.

“Oh, yes he’s going to increase the rent. That’s for sure,” said Pierrefonds renter Mathieu Couture.

Business owners will also be hit with higher property taxes. The average increase in Montreal will be 4.6 per cent.

“We’re very disappointed in this budget,” said Benjamin Rousse, a policy analyst at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

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Russe says many businesses are still trying to pay down pandemic-era debt, and struggling with labour shortages and a quieter downtown.

“This is really bad news and a lot of them are already at risk. This might be it for for a few of them,” Rousse said.

While Plante’s budget and tax increases are facing a lot of criticism, not everyone was surprised.

“Madame Plante, she’s doing what she can,” said Couture. “She cannot say, ‘Oh, I’m going to create a deficit to not increase the tax.’ What can we say? It’s life. It’s everywhere.”

The tax increases come into effect on Jan. 1.