Beaconsfield’s mayor has hired a lawyer to try and recover $12 million from Montreal.
“I’m trying to get a fair treatment for the Beaconsfield residents,” Georges Bourelle told Global News.
The mayor claims his city has paid Montreal’s agglomeration council $12 million per year on average more than it should have for public services — like mass transit.
All suburban municipalities on the island pay the agglomeration council for these kinds of benefits, but Bourelle argues his city and many others have been paying Montreal too much for too long.
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“We’re not just going to talk about it. We’re going to try to take some action to get it resolved,” he said.
That demand is resonating with the Beaconsfield residents.
READ MORE: Property taxes go up slightly in Montreal’s 2020 budget
“That money belongs to us. It’s our taxes, so, we should get it back,” Bob Filiatreault, a Beaconsfield resident, told Global News.
“Give them back something that would help a lot because the taxes are definitely too high,” fellow resident Gloria Callender said.
But Montreal mayor Valérie Plante is not impressed.
“This is a request they’ve been having for years and years and years,” she said at Montreal City Hall.
Plante said while Beaconsfield and some other municipalities may overpay for some services, they come out ahead overall.
“I would definitely ask the mayor of Beaconsfield to look at the big picture and not only to target a few elements,” she said.
Bourelle says he’s ready to turn to the Quebec government to try and change the billing formula to be based on services received and not property valuations.
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