By Joel Goldenberg
The Suburban
St. Laurent council, at its October council meeting, adopted a local $83.1 million budget and $96.2 million 10-year 2025-2034 capital investment program — the borough budget was $81.3 million last year.
A borough statement points out that $997,000 was taken from the surplus to balance the budget. The budget is being forwarded to Montreal city council for adoption.
“With the arrival of the REM and several other major urban mobility projects that will establish St. Laurent as a strategic hub, our community is on the cusp of a transformation that will have significant positive impacts on its attractiveness and its economy,” said Mayor Alan DeSousa. “It was therefore important for the borough to formulate a budget capable of effectively supporting this growth and completing the projects under its responsibility without cutting services or putting added pressure on the community. The latter has been challenged by inflation in recent years, so we decided to make use of a portion of the surplus to reduce local taxes and lessen the impact of increasing property values. We hope this measure will allow some breathing room for our community in 2025 as inflation continues to slowly but surely recede to a desirable level that will restore balance.”
Regarding the 10-Year Capital Investment Program for various projects, “by completion, these projects will represent $201.7 million in investments to benefit the community.”
Regarding the local budget, it includes $14.9 million for general administration (up $100,000 from last year); $1.5 million for public security ($100,000 less than last year); and $5.9 million for environmental health (up $200,000 from last year), which includes maintenance of local waterworks and the sewage system.”
As well, “$1.9 million is slated for health and well-being, $6.9 million for land use planning, urban planning and development, and $31 million for recreation and culture, including park maintenance; and $21 million is reserved for transport, which includes roadwork and snow removal.”
The statement added that the borough was able, despite inflation this year, “to reduce the local taxation rate for 2025, dropping it from $0.0674 to $0.0623 per $100 segment of assessed value.” The complete property tax rate will be known when the City of Montreal budget is passed.
Other aspects of the budget:
• “Transfers from the City of Montreal, including anticipated income from construction permits: $59,258,300.” The amount last year was $58,720,900.
• “Local tax income: $18,110,700,” compared to $17,478,800 last year.
• “Local fee income: $4,796,800.”
• “Surplus allocation: $997,000.”
Total: $83,162,800
Regarding the Capital Investment Program and operating budget, the 2025-27 priorities include:
• Upgrades to the Complexe sportif and the Centre des loisirs.”
• “Upgrades to the spaces at the Bibliothèque du Vieux-Saint-Laurent.”
• “Repairs to paving, sidewalks and curbs on the local network.”
• “Developments in various parks.”
• “Development of Phase 1 of Parc Bois-Franc.”
• “Upgrades to the Chamberland and St. Laurent park chalets.”
• “Repairs to several park trails and sports fields.”
• “Replacement of play modules.”
“Start of the replacement of the swimming pools in Chamberland, Hartenstein and Saint-Laurent parks.”
• “Restoration work in the Parc Marcel-Laurin woodland.”
• “Continuation of the conversion to LED lighting in various parks.”
• “Upgrades to various parking lots.”
• Work to ensure the safety and user-friendliness of the amenities on various streets.” n