By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
Budget launch season may be three months away, but Abercorn mayor Guy Favreau is already telling residents of the village of 341 people to prepare for a tax increase.
Favreau presented a “financial resilience update” to citizens over the summer. In it, he stated that based on current average property values, raising the tax rate by one cent would bring an estimated $15,000 in additional revenue to the municipality. “Three cents on the tax rate provides the revenue required to replace a $45,000 culvert ($150 per house),” he explained. “In 2026, $660,000 of roadwork is planned in the three-year capital program. If the village does not obtain significant grants or borrow, it would need to budget 44 cents on the tax bill to pay for this in cash (or $2,200 for a $500,000 residence).” According to the presentation Favreau gave at the time, over $400,000 in additional annual revenue over the next ten years was needed to move forward with basic upgrades to roads and sewage infrastructure.
“We have a financial situation that is precarious,” Favreau acknowledged in a later interview, citing loss of expected provincial grants as one reason the municipality is in difficulty. “We need to invest, and if we do that without grants – or even with grants – we are expecting to have to increase the tax rate, because we have some infrastructures that are in a critical state.”
“Some of our grant requests have been refused, and others have funded 30 or 40 per cent of a project when we were expecting 50 per cent,” he said. “There are also some projects that we can’t keep putting off, for safety reasons – this winter exposed a certain fragility in our water and sewage network, with aging infrastructures and things that break in the middle of winter.”
“We don’t have a Mont Sutton or a Ski Bromont or a big industrial project; these are typical rural problems where the main source of revenue is property taxes.
Favreau said the municipality has two major “residential development opportunities” which would widen the town’s tax base – a development of 30 to 80 homes along Rue Thibault Nord and a proposed apartment complex along Rue Thibault Sud that would include three 12-unit buildings, two eight-unit buildings, 14 triplexes and six townhouses, for a total of 60 to 100 new housing units. If both projects come to fruition, they could double the village’s population, but they would bring a much-needed injection of revenue. He also noted that a third site was being considered for development.
“The two projects have been in the works for four or five years and for all sort of reasons it has not worked,” he said. “Since I took over one of my objectives has been to get them going and help correct some of that inequity … they are socially, financially and legally complex projects, and navigating all of that has not been easy.” He said the municipality needs to “establish a framework” to allow developers to put forward projects that are realistic, socially acceptable and affordable for young families.
“The housing crisis is serious – to own a home in Abercorn, you need an annual family revenue of $104,000. There are people who have lived all their lives here whose children will be run out of town because they can’t afford to live here, and that’s a real shame.”
Although some residents have supported the idea of a mobile home park, Favreau said he didn’t see that as a way forward. “Mobile homes depreciate in value. If we want to help people build wealth, that’s not how we’re going to do it. There are other options – condos, tiny houses, accessory dwellings, these are things we will look at…co-ops and nonprofit trusts are other ways to promote access to property. Renting can be a viable long-term option as long as there are not abuses, and there are also federal programs to help first-time homebuyers access housing. There are a lot of interesting possibilities that need to be developed. It’s harder than we think, but you have to start somewhere.” Preserving agricultural and forested land while making room for development is another conundrum, faced by Abercorn and many other smaller rural municipalities.
Favreau said he didn’t believe the “culture of begging for money” by relying on government grants for essential infrastructure was sustainable. “The cost of infrastructure has nearly doubled since 2019, but grants have gone down,” he said. “On paper, [because of the rise in property values], we’re the third richest municipality in the MRC, but we don’t have the means to invest.” He said he plans to consult constituents on various development and forestry issues. “There are a lot of retirees here with expertise, and I want to bring that to the table. We have our work cut out for us for the next ten years.”
Favreau became mayor in November 2022, succeeding Guy Gravel. Gravel and three town councillors dramatically resigned at a council meeting earlier that year, citing an untenable work environment; the town was then placed under temporary administration by the Commission municipale du Québec until a byelection could be held – a byelection which became unnecessary after one of the two candidates dropped out mid-campaign. Favreau, an architect with no prior political experience, was acclaimed. At the time, he told the BCN he planned to finish Gravel’s mandate and then “pass the baton” to someone else. Now he isn’t sure whether to run for re-election this fall. “I think it might be the time to pass the baton, but at the same time, I’m worried that everything we just talked about will just fall in the water.”