Quebec City budget

Budget holds line on taxes, ups spending on public safety

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Describing it as a responsible financial plan that shuns electoralist goodies, Mayor Bruno Marchand last week unveiled his third budget, the last one before next year’s municipal election.

As promised, the budget keeps the average property tax increase at 2.9 per cent, below the rate of inflation. It increases spending for hiring more police officers and firefighters, addressing homelessness and building more housing.

The mayor said at a news conference Dec. 4, following a briefing by city finance officials, “The task has been enormous” to deliver sound city finances with a view to the future.

With the easing of inflation and improvement in the labour market, Marchand said there’s been “a certain return to normal” in the current year. That’s allowed the city to “maintain the quality of life and the num- ber of services the city offers free to citizens.”

The city’s overall operating budget for 2025 is $2.015 billion, an increase of $111.3 million or 5.8 per cent over the previous year. Of that amount, the largest outlay is $1.2 billion, or 61.5 per cent, for “expenditures of administrative units,” meaning salaries.

The next largest expense is $311 million to service the city’s debt, which stands at $1.523 billion; the new budget takes a $5.2-million bite out of the debt, the 10th straight year of reduction, totalling $146.7 million.

The budget cuts some $31 million in expenses with various reduction measures.

For residential property owners, the tax hike on an average home valued at $379,000 will be about $93, with only slight variations from borough to borough. The average tax total is $3,348.

The city plans to boost revenue from several sources, including $18.8 million from the new $60 vehicle registration fee to be implemented next year, and $6 million in levies on undeveloped land.

As announced prior to the budget, the city is adding an extra $10 million to fund a major boost in police and fire department hiring next year. The police force will be bolstered by 51 officers and the fire department by 36. There will be additional hiring in 2026 for a total of 173 new positions. The mayor said the beefed-up police force will be tasked with reducing gang violence.

Funds to stimulate housing are nearly tripling in 2025, from $24 million to $71 million. The same goes for funds to fight homelessness, from $2.2 million to $7 million.

The city is dipping into its climate change reserve fund to pay for two environmentally related projects next year: a new covered and refrigerated rink to be built next to the Duberger arena, as part of a plan to have such a facility in each of the city’s six boroughs, and a flood-prevention project along the Lorette River.

The budget does not ignore the tramway project, which has dominated City Hall politics since Marchand’s Québec Forte et Fière party came to power three years ago. The budget allots $262 million for tramway work in 2025, while the city awaits the final agree- ment on the project, possibly next week.

“We’re ready for 2025,” the mayor said. “It’s going well. Quebec needs it. The money is there. The partners are there. We’ve got a good vibe.”

Asked to explain why he calls the budget “non-electoralist,” Marchand said, “We’re not giving gifts that will make people happy for a while. We’re not taking the easy way; it’s about being responsible and rigorous. It’s not our money, it’s the money of the citizens.”