Montrealers feeling the pinch amid the city’s latest budget

The city’s latest budget is hitting Montrealers’ wallets, with the biggest residential property tax hike in 13 years for an average of 4.9 per cent and higher in some boroughs. 

“That 4.9 per cent that feels like the city is gauging people,” says one Montrealer.

Increasing taxes in this day and age is not a good thing because everything is already so expensive and Quebec is already so taxed,” says Michèle Paquette.

“Nobody likes that to have taxes going up but the timing is particularly bad because of the scandal,” said Montrealer Christian Dufour.

The former number two at city hall, Dominique Ollivier, who was supposed to present the budget, stepped down as president of the city’s executive committee Monday after she was criticized for allegedly spending $350 on an oyster dinner when she was president of the city’s public consultation office, the OCPM.

Alan DeSousa, borough mayor of Saint-Laurent and a member of the official opposition, Ensemble Montreal, critiqued the budget saying, “we’ve seen a whole slew of expenses over the last 10 days and this budget seems to have been made in a vacuum. Clearly it’s got to go back to the drawing board.”

For political analyst, Karim Boulos, the tax increases are disappointing.

“There are no new money making solutions other than taxing the citizens, other than charging taxpayers,” he said. “I think the city needs to become more creative in the way it generates revenue. Construction is an excellent way to do it, increase the tax base so there are more people sharing the burden.”

The Montreal police force increasing their budget by 35 million dollars from the previous year 2024 due to a commitment from the Quebec government to give the city $225 million over five years to hire 450 additional officers.

“We know that there’s a $16.5 million allocated for body cams, so obviously there’s going to be some action on that. I think it could be a money very well spent,” said Fo Niemi from the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR). “But more importantly, you have to look at where the money goes and what’s it going to be used for.”

At the budget presentation Wednesday, Mayor Valérie Plante defended spending on public security.

“What do we do for the most vulnerable, for pedestrian, for our elders, for our kids, money is a lot about this,” she said. “Same thing for climate change. People are saying we need to adapt the territory. I agree.”

“It’s okay to improve the city, there’s all kinds of infrastructure, but you can slow down your pace a bit, and if you do then you don’t have to gauge so much,” said one Montrealer.