Little change in City tax

The City’s tax rate has dropped from 45.51 cents per $100 valuation to 42.52 cents, but valuations are up slightly as the new roll slowly comes into effect. Montreal’s tax rate has dropped from 74.49 cents to 71.11 cents per $100 valuation, but this means hikes of from 1 to 5 per cent in the amount paid out to the larger city. It means the overall tax bill for most homeowners will go up between 0 and 4 per cent; quite a number will see actual reductions in tax to Westmount, but the amount paid out to Montreal increases from 62.0 per cent to 62.6 per cent of the total tax bill.

The news is especially good for duplex and triplex owners who have seen generally lower valuation increases than many single-family homeowners; in most cases their taxes are up only two per cent. Houses between Sherbrooke Street and The Boulevard in east and central Westmount will have tax hikes of four to five per cent, added to last year’s hikes of about the same amounts, bringing hikes over two years of between eight and 10 per cent.

Some condominium owners are going to have a more difficult time, with valuation increases in the range of 60 to 70 per cent which mean tax increases of eight to 10 percent this year alone.

Larger apartment buildings are being taxed this year at a higher rate than their residential counterparts, at least as far as Westmount is concerned, though the rate remains the same for the Montreal sector of the tax. Because valuation increases are mostly modest the tax hikes are equally modest in most cases, though in the sample below, 4560 St. Catherine Street – corner Lewis Avenue – can expect an overall tax increase of six per cent this year, 11 per cent over two years.

Commercial premises have been particularly hard hit in the new budgets, certainly more because of increases from Montreal than from Westmount. With valuation increases generally about 55 per cent, Westmount’s non-residential tax rate drops from $1.6839 to $1.6102 per $100 valuation, while Montreal’s rate for Westmount and the other demerged municipalities actually increases from $2.3292 to $2.4266 per $100, resulting in overall tax increases of some 13 per cent for most local businesses and office buildings. Last year increases were generally fairly light in this category so the two-year increases are not much higher than the increases this year, but they certainly could make a difference to many local merchants.

The taxes below have been calculated according to the rates approved in the latest budgets, as follows:

Westmount rate for 1-5 dwelling properties: $0.4252 per $100 valuation

Agglomeration rate: 0.7111

Total: $1.1363

Westmount rate for 6 units or more apartment buildings: 0.5141 per $100 valuation

Agglomeration rate: 0.7111

Total: $1.2252

Commercial rate for buildings with 100 per cent business use: 1.6102 per $100 valuation

Agglomeration rate: 2.4266

Total: 4.0368

For properties which have both commercial and residential premises the City uses percentage codes to determine the taxes.

The information provided here is based on best assumptions and is not necessarily correct. It does, however, give an indication of what is expected to happen to various tax bills based on increases in valuations. We have not included any tax appeal reductions which may have taken place over the past year.