'Average' Westmount tax bill to rise by one per cent

City Councillor Guy Charette, the Commissioner of Finance who presented the budget at city hall last Monday evening, stressed that this example reflected the impact of the taxation rates on a typical dwelling which experienced a 36.1 per cent increase in its evaluation over four years.

He said tax increases or decreases could vary depending on the valuation of each property individually. The tax rate for apartment buildings with six or more units will be $1.1879. For non-residential properties it will be $3.9351.

Beginning in 2009, only one tax bill will be sent to Westmount property owners and will include amounts owed to both the City of Westmount and the Montreal Agglomeration. Billing by the Agglomeration is now done directly to Westmount, which has budgeted $40.6 million for that purpose.

Westmount's total budget next year amounts to nearly $80 million, with just over $30 million of that for delivery of local services. Among some of the other expenses, the City will be spending almost $3.9 million for debt servicing and finance costs, $2.5 million for pay-as-you-go financing, $1.2 million for a special "provision" fund, and nearly $1 million as payment to the Montreal Metropolitan Community, which is a greater Montreal regional authority.

Charette noted a 4.5 per cent increase over the past year in the budget for delivery of local services, some of which he said was for "one time costs." He gave five reasons for the hike: costs related to labour; City-wide deployment of the kitchen compost program; an increase in contracts for snow removal, road salt and collection of recyclables; costs associated with next November's municipal elections; and greater expenses for items such graffiti removal, street asphalting and street signs.

As of Dec. 8, Westmount's accumulated surplus stood at $8.3 million, of which $6.3 million has been set aside in reserves. Westmount's 2009 capital works budget amounts to nearly $7.3 million, compared to almost $7.45 million in the past year. Three million will be spent on road reconstruction and other major repairs, $770,000 for water and sewer network refurbishing, $740,000 for building improvements, and $1.2 million for infrastructure and equipment upgrades at Hydro Westmount.