Published January 10, 2024

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The owners of an average single-family home in St. Lazare will see their property taxes increase by 4.45 per cent this year, according to the town’s new $43.1-million budget adopted last month.

The value of an average single-family home in the municipality is pegged at $467,600. The owners of this property will see a tax bill of $3,672 in 2024, which represents an increase of $156 compared with 2023. Last year, the taxes on that same home jumped $141, or 4.19 per cent, bringing the overall hike in taxes on that property since the end of 2022 to $297, or 8.8 per cent.

The residential property tax rate for 2024 has been set at $0.6262 per $100 of valuation, up from the 2023 rate of $0.6034.

Included in the calculation of each tax bill is a $275 annual water tax, up from $250 last year; a $180 garbage tax, up from $165 last year; a $165 sewer treatment charge, which is the same as in 2023 and a $50 potable water treatment plant fee, which is also the same as last year.

The property tax increase “represents less than $13 per month for the average single-family home, which council considers reasonable under the circumstances,” city officials stated in a prepared statement. The increase, in fact, represents exactly $13 a month for an average home.

There are other itemized charges that are assessed based on specific tax rates per $100 of valuation, meaning those properties with higher valuations will pay more, while lesser valued properties will pay less. For the average valued home of $467,600, they include a $25 charge for the construction of municipal buildings, which is up about $3 from last year; a $14 fee for the construction of the new fire hall, which is the same as last year; a $13 fee for the extension of the bicycle path network, up from the $5.61 assessed last year; a $9.82 charge for the reconstruction of Ste. Elizabeth Street; a $7 charge for the expansion of the La Pinière nature park and a $4.68 contribution to the building of the synthetic playing field next to Westwood High School’s junior campus.

Spending is up

Overall, the city will be spending about $5.5 million more this year as compared with 2023. Among the biggest increases are services the municipality has no direct control over. Among those charges is the city’s contribution to the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, which jumps 18.71-per-cent in 2024 compared with 2023, bringing the total handed over to the regional authority to just over $2.4 million this year. Other increases assessed to the town are charges from the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, which jumps 17.53 per cent this year compared with last year; and fees for policing services from the Sûreté du Québec, which increase by 6.55 per cent this year. The city’s contribution to the regional transit authority, or Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain, increases 4 per cent from 2023.

These charges represent about 85 per cent of St. Lazare’s overall spending.

The city also adopted its three-year capital expenditure program on Dec. 19. It includes $25 million in projects in 2024, $28.2 million in spending in 2025 and $13.3 million in plans for 2026.

This year, among the projects planned are $14.7 million to improve and expand potable water services; $6.5 million in recreational upgrades, including refurbishing certain parks, replacing the surface of the synthetic field near Westwood High School and about $1.6 million for the construction of a youth centre, which will be financed in part by an expected $980,000 grant. Another $3.14 million will be spent on road improvements, the installation of electric vehicle charging stations at the community centre and the replacement of certain municipal vehicles.

Most of these items will be financed through a combination of provincial government grants, long-term borrowing and the municipality’s reserved funds.

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