By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
Town councillors in Frelighsburg passed the municipality’s 2025 budget on Dec. 16. The 14 per cent tax increase (from 37 to 41.58 cents per $100 of assessed value for all types of property) will allow the municipality to shoulder a heavier workload, pay rising service fees, pay off loans and avoid dipping into the surplus, Mayor Lucie Dagenais explained. A presentation posted on the town website indicates that total operating expenses have gone up by nine per cent. Water, sewage and waste management fees will be determined later this winter.
“Our accountants recommend that we have six months of money in reserve in case of an emergency, and right now we’re at four months – we’re at a point where it would not be responsible to keep using the surplus,” she said, arguing that residents still pay less than those in neighbouring towns.
Dagenais said the amount of work involved in keeping the town running has increased “tenfold” in recent years.
“For a few years now, we’ve been having human resources issues, jobs that went unfilled, issues responding to citizens’ requests and maintaining stability. [This past year] was a good year – we got an assistant treasurer, an assistant director general, a new inspector, a better organized fire department. As a small municipality, we can’t hire full-time staff, and it was difficult to find competent staff who were willing to work part time. We made some intermunicipal agreements to share staff and we have a structure now where we can be really operational,” she told the BCN. “We have more and more responsibilities – we’re asked to be more proactive in promoting civic engagement, new responsibilities in terms of fire risk coverage and protecting the environment. It’s understandable, but it requires resources; it’s something else that taxpayers pay for.”
Dagenais also noted an increase in Sûreté du Québec (SQ) service fees of nearly 11 per cent. Along with her counterparts from across the MRC, she is asking Public Safety Minister François Bonnardel to order an external analysis before confirming the increase. “We have an enormous fee rise from the SQ. “We have fewer officers and it costs more … and we’ve had a big increase in population – and we have no say in the matter; we just have to put up with it,” she said. She noted that MRC fees, insurance and auditing costs and fees for the Cowansville municipal court and the Société de protection animale des Cantons had also shot up.
On the infrastructure front, Dagenais said she hoped to launch calls for tenders for a major upgrade to the town’s water treatment plant as early as this summer. “Until that’s done, there are a lot of other things we can’t start. We can’t have new [residential] development. Once we get rid of the marshes, we can build the new fire station and municipal garage. There will be a lot of groundbreaking in the next little while.”
The first-term mayor said she would seek a second term in the upcoming election. “You learn from experience – I feel like I’ve learned a lot in the last few years and I want to use that knowledge.”