By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
The city of Bromont is expecting to tighten its belt in the coming months, city officials announced Dec. 11. Mayor Louis Villeneuve, finance director Stéphane Brochu and director general Francis Dorion presented the 2024 budget and five-year infrastructure plan at the final council meeting of the year. The budget includes a residential property tax increase of just under eight per cent and an emphasis on the maintenance of essential services.
“Everyone has been through a difficult year and had to make difficult budget choices, and it’s kind of the same thing for the city,” said Villeneuve, commenting that this year’s budget was “the least simple” he has seen in ten years in municipal politics. “Our needs are changing, not just due to growth, but due to [evolving] ways of doing things…and this is happening in conditions that aren’t ideal. Since 2006, taxes on home sales have allowed us to build up a fund that was sufficient to avoid tax increases. This year, we’re seeing a construction slowdown due to rising construction costs and interest rates. This has an inevitable impact on the budget.” Service costs have also risen sharply, according to data provided by the city – fuel, natural gas, asphalt, roadwork and maintenance costs have all gone up by 20 per cent or more (roadwork costs have risen by 37 per cent), salaries have risen and the city’s contribution to the MRC has risen by 11 per cent. The city received fewer bids from outside contractors for ongoing projects, pushing prices up, Dorion explained. Additionally, certain city infrastructure, including some water and sewer lines, was “reaching the end of its useful life,” he added.
The challenge, Dorion told reporters, was being able to maintain existing services and honour existing financial commitments (including debt reimbursement, which takes up about 15 per cent of the budget) while respecting taxpayers’ capacity to pay.
Tax rates for all types of property will rise, after a tax rate freeze in 2023. The residential tax rate has been raised from $0.558 per $100 of value to $0.604, meaning that the owner of an average single-family home with municipal water service can expect to pay $3,415 in property taxes, not including utility fees – $260 more than last year. Owners of multi-unit buildings with six units or more will pay $0.647 per $100 rather than the previous $0.598; owners of non-residential buildings will pay $1.578 rather than $1.458, owners of industrial buildings pay $2.104 rather than $1.944. Tax rates on agricultural land will also rise, from $0.488 to $0.528. Taxes on unused land covered by the city water network will nearly double, from $0.698 to $1.208, mainly as an incentive to encourage construction.
Utility fees will go up for both residents and owners of other types of property. Water fees, which had been stable since 2015, will rise from $226 to $237 for both homes and businesses. Residential septic tank fees will jump from $65 to $90 and sewage management fees from $110 to $137. Recycling and commercial water and sewage fees will also rise slightly.
Brochu said 85 per cent of the city’s current revenue comes from residential property taxes. He said he hoped further development of the industrial park and sales of city land there will help shift some of the tax burden from residents to businesses and bring the city an estimated $39 million in additional revenue.
Five-year infrastructure plan
Villeneuve and Dorion presented the city’s five-year infrastructure plan – a first for the city, which, like most municipalities, usually releases a three-year infrastructure plan at the end of every year. Dorion said a five-year plan made long-term planning easier. He said the current plan would focus on “essential investments.”
The five-year plan laid out $190 million in investments, of which $76.4 million would be paid by taxpayers, $16.7 million financed by land sales in the industrial park and $37.8 million by subsidies from other levels of government. Dorion gave a rapid overview of major upcoming projects including upgrades and extensions to the town’s sewer and water networks, upgrades to the water treatment plant which will allow more water to be pumped in from the Yamaska river, the first phase of construction of a new sewage treatment facility, the long-awaited new main fire station, Parc Grégoire, the Lac Bromont beach and a new public green space within the industrial park.