BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1510 West
Homeowners in Pointe Claire will see their municipal tax bills go up by an average of 1.8 per cent next year, according to the city’s $191.5-million budget adopted on Monday.
That means the owners of an average house – valued at $674,216 – will pay $4,297 in municipal taxes in 2025, an increase of $76 compared with this year.
The tax rate for single-family homes, as well as residential units in multi-storey buildings, has been set at 63.74 cents per $100 of valuation, up from this year’s rate of 62.61 cents.
Overall, the city will increase its spending next year by $10 million, a 5.5-per-cent increase over this year. This increase comes after a $8.3-million jump in spending in 2023, reflecting an increase in expenditures of 10.56 per cent in the last two years.
A large portion of the $10-million hike in expenditures in 2025 covers a $5.37-million increase in the amount Pointe Claire has to hand over the Agglomeration of Montreal. The agglo will siphon $91.145 million from Pointe Claire next year, which represents a 6.3-per-cent increase over the almost $85.8 million in 2024, budget documents show. Services provided by the agglomeration include public transit, police and water.
That means that for every tax dollar Pointe Claire collects, 55 cents goes to the agglomeration.
The latest increase in agglomeration costs is in addition to the 6.4-per-cent hike in the central government’s costs assessed to Pointe Claire in 2024 and the 8.1-per-cent hike in 2023, bringing the increases in the agglo costs to Pointe Claire taxpayers since the end of 2022 to 16.55 per cent.
Among expenses controlled by the municipality, the largest increases in costs in 2025 will come from the general administration of the city and leisure and culture programs, which jump 6.8 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively.
Pointe Claire council also approved the city’s three-year capital expenditures program. The plan will see $28.6 million invested in 2025, including $13.2 million for infrastructure improvements and $4.8 million on construction and renovation of municipal buildings.