Taxes up and down in Low

By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

Taxes in Low are going up and down depending on where you live. 

The municipality passed its $3.958 million 2025 municipal budget in December of last year, which represents an 8.86 per cent increase from 2024. To limit the tax increase on residents, Low dropped its mill rate to reflect a four per cent increase for the average resident. 

What does this mean for the median homeowner?

If you own a home serviced by water that is worth around the median price in Low – $200,718 – your taxes are going down a whopping $22.31 per year. However, if your house is worth approximately $405,000, you will see an increase of just over three per cent or $117 extra per year. 

For a residential property roughly  worth $308,000 that is not serviced by water, your tax bill will go up just over four per cent or $106 per year. For a home in the same sector that is around $535,900, your tax bill will increase by $264 per year. 

According to municipal documents, the biggest jumps in Low came in snow removal services, which increased by 25 per cent or just over $80,000 for 2025. Low’s contribution for Sûreté du Québec police services also jumped six per cent. However the municipality’s overall MRC Vallée-de-la-Gatineau contribution came down over seven per cent to just over $307,000. Low was also reimbursed for recycling materials last year, a significant $264,000, which decreases the municipality’s waste management budget by 18 per cent. 

One of the main challenges in Low has been recruiting and retaining quality staff over the years. The municipality just hired its seventh director-general in as many years last August and hopes to make staffer jobs more attractive with a greater than 10 per cent increase to municipal salaries in 2025. 

“The main challenges we are currently facing, in terms of territory, are to continue catching up on investments in municipal infrastructure, to attract and retain a diversified commercial service offering and to attract and retain qualified personnel due to our proximity to the major urban centre of Gatineau-Ottawa,” wrote Mayor Carole Robert in her budget speech in late December. “Internally, we intend to continue improving internal controls, enhance communications channels and support workforce skills development.”

To improve infrastructure, Low presented its triennial investment plan for the next three years, and the future has a focus on roads, equipment and a new town hall. Low has budgeted $6 million in investments through 2027. Here are the 2025 expenditures:

  • hire an architect to draw up plans for a new town hall;
  • purchasing fire safety equipment;
  • replacing a grader;
  • Purchasing public Works equipment (tipper, signalling barrier, calcium tank);
  • purchasing a grass cutter for roadside verges;
  • acquiring Hydro-Quebec land near the municipal boat launch.

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