JOSHUA ALLAN
The 1510 West
The average Dorval taxpayer will see a 2-per-cent increase on their municipal taxes in 2024, ending the city’s multi-year trend of lowering the average resident’s tax bill.
The owner of an average single-family house in Dorval– valued at $640,631 – will pay $58 more in municipal property taxes this year, according to the city’s 2024 budget adopted in December. That means the tax bill for that house will increase to $2,939 in 2024, which represents a 2-per-cent hike from the $2,881 paid in taxes in 2023.
The residential tax rate per $100 of valuation is set at $0.4587. This is a slight decrease from 2023, when the rate was set at $0.5005.
Tax rates for non-residential buildings, industrial buildings and residential dwellings of six or more units will be raised by six per cent, said Dorval Mayor Marc Doret.
Up until this year, Dorval taxpayers have seen slight reductions in their annual municipal tax bills every year since 2017 – with the exception of 2019, when taxes were raised by 0.1 per cent – followed by a freeze in 2023.
Referring to this year’s increase, Doret called for residents to keep the current economic circumstances and high inflation rates in mind.
“Despite an increase of 2 per cent in their 2024 tax bill, citizens must realize that they benefited from a real-life decrease due to the 4.6-per-cent inflation rate,” he said.
Overall, Dorval will spend $158.4 million in 2024. This figure represents an increase of $10 million, or 6.67 per cent, compared with 2023.
As with other demerged cities, Dorval’s municipal budget includes expenses for local services and payments to the city of Montreal for services supplied by the agglomeration, which include public transit, social housing and emergency services.
For services provided by Dorval, the city this year will spend $74 million, a $6.1-million increase increase over last year, which represents a 9-per-cent jump. Areas of increased local spending include: transport, which increased to $17.1 million, a 20.5-per-cent jump; and leisure and culture, which increases by 5.7 per cent to hit $20.7 million. Amortization costs jump 21.2 per cent to hit $11.7 million this year.
Dorval’s share of agglomeration payments has increased by $4 million, or 5 per cent, totalling $84.3 million this year. This makes up for around 53 per cent of the city’s total 2024 budget. Doret said the agglomeration payments have increased by approximately $15.6 million since 2021.
Dorval will invest just under $51 million in various community projects as part of its three-year capital expenditures program. Among the projects are a redesign of St. Charles Park, the construction of a covered refrigerated skating rink and upgrades at the Ballantyne Aquatic Centre.