Montreal caps property tax increases, boosts spending for police, housing in 2022 budget
CBC
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante's administration is promising to tackle homelessness, address the housing crisis and increase public security spending – without significantly raising property taxes.
The city unveiled its proposed operating and capital works budgets for 2022 on Wednesday.
The operating budget will be $6.46 billion for 2022, a 1.3 per cent increase over last year, with an additional $19 billion earmarked for a 10-year capital works program.
Residential taxes, which can vary from borough to borough, will see an average increase of about two per cent.
For the average detached home in Montreal, evaluated at $535,000, it represents an $83 increase. For condos, it is an average of $7 more.
Here are some highlights by borough:
Non-residential and commercial taxes will be increased anywhere from 0.3 to three per cent, depending on the borough, with the exception of Anjou, which is decreasing commercial taxes by 0.2 per cent.
However, businesses will soon start paying a municipal water tax, which scales with the amount of water used.
In a bid to tackle the city's housing crisis, the Plante administration has set aside $111 million in 2022 to create 12,000 new social and affordable housing units.
Another $116 million over the next 10 years will go toward purchasing land and existing buildings, in a new plan to build 60,000 new social and affordable units by 2031.
It's not just housing that might get scooped up by the city. The administration is committing $5 million in 2022 to purchasing commercial properties as well, to "maintain a commercial, social and cultural mix by promoting the affordability" of commercial spaces.
The Plante administration has once again raised the budget of the Montreal police, this time to the tune of $45 million, bringing the total budget to about $724 million.
About $4.6 million of that is specifically for the fight against gun violence. Public security accounts for 17.7 per cent of the total budget.
About $500,000 has been allocated to giving officers body cameras in 2022, though the budget does not commit to how many, or when they might be rolling out. $17 million total has been earmarked for the cameras over 10 years.
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