BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report
Vaudreuil-Soulanges commuters sitting in rush-hour traffic as they attempt to travel across the Île aux Tourtes Bridge will have plenty of time to contemplate the irony behind a new tax they will be slapped with this year: A $59 charge that will be added to their vehicle registrations for 2024 courtesy of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal and the regional public transit authority.
Beginning this month, all personal vehicles registered in the 11 municipalities in this region that are part of the CMM will be hit with the new charge that aims to help finance public transit in the greater Montreal region.
More specifically, as explained by the CMM, the regional authority that includes 82 municipalities on and around the island of Montreal, “this measure aims to diversify the sources of funding for the public transportation network in the metropolitan Montreal region to meet the population’s needs in terms of sustainable mobility, while contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and road congestion.”
The charge is expected to generate about $125 million to $128 million in revenue for the transport authority across the CMM in 2024.
The 11 of the 23 municipalities in Vaudreuil-Soulanges that are part of the CMM include Vaudreuil-Dorion, St. Lazare, Hudson, Pincourt, L’Île Perrot, Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot, Terrasse Vaudreuil, Vaudreuil sur le Lac, Les Cèdres, Île Cadieux and Pointe des Cascades.
The fee will be collected by the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec on behalf of the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), and is in addition to the $30 annual fee dubbed a “public transit contribution” already charged to most residents in the region who are included in the CMM, bringing the total public transit tariff on each vehicle registrations to $89 a year.
Motorists living in Les Cèdres, Île Cadieux, Pointe des Cascades and Vaudreuil sur le Lac are exempt from paying the $30 fee. They will have to pay the new $59 tax, however.
Since 2011, motorists living on the island of Montreal have been paying a $45 annual public transit fee plus the $30 annual “public transit contribution.” Starting this year, the public transit fee they are assessed will be increased to $59, bringing their total public transit annual surcharges to $89.
The CMM council approved the new tax back in April, after the ARTM revealed a substantial operating deficit. In the months that followed, negotiations between the provincial Transport Ministry, the CMM and the transit authority explored ways to address the shortfall. These talks looked at alternative funding schemes. But the mayors who sit on the CMM council were adamant that contributions from the municipalities should remain capped at a 4-per-cent increase.
The provincial government then announced it would pitch in $346 million, which represents about 75 per cent of the expected $461-million operating deficit for 2024. The $346 million includes $218 million from Quebec, as outlined in the CAQ government’s fall economic update announced Nov. 7 and $128 million from transit fees collected through the vehicle registration charges approved in April that come into effect starting this month. The formula still leaves the transit authority with a shortfall, which will still have to be managed, according to the CMM.
“I am completely against increasing the cost of licensing (a vehicle),” said Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon last week.
The original contribution motorists were forced to pay, Pilon explained, was designated to improve services. Now, the transit authority is using these funds and charging more to cover its operating shortfall.
“I am completely against that,” Pilon reiterated, adding that the current financing scheme still does not cover the entire operating deficit, which means the transit authority might have to now cut services. “Everything is on the table,” he said.