A New Year’s message
from Westmount’s Mayor

Issues and priorities for 2018, the new budget and an unwelcome Agglo share hike

By Christina M. Smith

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you much health and happiness in 2018. In November 2017 Westmount elected a new Council and me, as Mayor. I have met with many of you as Councillor, interim Mayor, electoral candidate and again as Mayor, and what always inspires me is the level of engagement and interest Westmount residents have for their City. Many of the ideas you have shared you will see in policy initiatives set out by this Council over the coming months. Some initiatives are easier than others to set in motion but my hope is that you will see a Council that is responsive to citizens and engaged in the community.

There were four issues and priorities that citizens raised with me time and time again:
1. Keep investing in infrastructure; roads, sidewalks and parks.
2. Improve the process for Urban Planning.
3. Implement traffic and road safety measures that deal with the changing reality of the Turcot construction project.
4. Do not raise taxes.

This Council passed a Capital Works budget that will keep the pace of infrastructure spending and use Pay-as-You-Go dollars to finance the projects. Philip Cutler, who is the Commissioner for Infrastructure and Innovation, now sits on the Finance and Administration Committee that makes the recommendations for funding these projects in the budget. Public Works and Engineering is the biggest department we invest in and it makes sense to have the Commissioner who is responsible for that department sitting at the table. We have also invested this year in Urban Planning to begin the process of updating the by-laws and look at the zoning issues in the City.

We are working on measures to enhance safety and to have less traffic congestion in the City.

… unfortunately our share to the Agglomeration is much higher than we feel is reasonable or was expected… a staggering 6.7%.

This Council was prepared to pass a budget that would have been a less than 1% increase in taxes, well below the rate of inflation. After two years of a freeze we felt it was prudent to move forward with that type of budget. This was all working under the assumption that the quote-part that Westmount pays to the Agglomeration for our shared services for Montreal was, at the most, a 2 % increase. Mayor Plante’s Projet Montreal campaigned on this very promise. There had been no indication that we could expect otherwise. Our budget was built on that promise, unfortunately our share to the Agglomeration is much higher than we feel is reasonable or was expected. The increase from last year’s budget is a staggering 6.7%.

In July, the previous Council established the following guidelines for the 2018 budget:
• Limit the increase in taxation for local services to the rate of inflation. This limit excludes any increases in our apportionment from the Agglomeration Council of Montreal or from the Montreal Metropolitan Community (MMC);
• Continue the pace of Infrastructure investment and ensure the work is completed on time and on budget;
• Continue with sound fiscal management that has served Westmount residents well.

Elected, as you know in November, we endorsed these guidelines. The capital budget we approved in December reflected our commitment to keep investing in infrastructure: our roads, sidewalks and parks. On January 11, 2018 we were set to announce that, in 2018, the property tax bill for the average single family dwelling, which has been frozen for two years, was increasing by less than 1%. This is well below the 1.7% rise in the cost of living in Quebec.

We are taken aback with the Montreal plan to raise Westmount’s share of agglomeration costs by a staggering 6.7%. We are frustrated because there was no prior consultation or notice, and cities across the island of Montreal are already paying a much higher percentage than Montreal.

‘… we hosted a news conference… and called on Mayor Plante to re-examine the budget and take the necessary steps to reduce spending in order to minimize tax increases.’

We are working hard to get the City of Montreal to change its position by collaborating with our fellow mayors from the Association of Suburban Municipalities. On January 12, 2018, we hosted a news conference at Westmount City Hall with all the mayors of the demerged cities and called on Mayor Plante to re-examine the budget and take the necessary steps to reduce spending in order to minimize tax increases.

At the same time, we are looking for structural changes to how the Agglomeration works.

We are asking the Quebec Minister of Municipal Affairs to look at the current structure of the Agglomeration. We want him to focus on developing strategies and policies that promote increased collaboration and ensure the voices of the quarter of a million people who are represented by the independent cities on the island of Montreal are heard. We can all agree we should pay our fair share for the services we receive. But these types of increases go beyond our fair share.

At the same time we have to be practical.

The City of Montreal has given no indication it’s willing to reduce this tax increase, and we have to operate on the assumption that the tax increase will go ahead.

We had been working under the assumption of a 2% increase in Agglomeration costs. Therefore, in order to cover the shortfall, we are planning a 3.09 % tax increase this year. Half of our tax dollars go the Agglomeration of Montreal so the vast majority of this 3.09% increase is due to the higher bill from the City of Montreal. The impact of this increase is about $394.00 for the average single family dwelling in Westmount. This is not the news I was hoping to share with citizens at the beginning of this mandate.

‘…we feel the City of Montreal needs to look at a better way to run the Agglomeration, and we are redoubling our efforts to secure changes to how the Agglomeration functions.’

We have worked very hard in Westmount to be fiscally responsible and control our expenses while making targeted investments. We have been diligent in our budgeting process. You have our commitment that this will continue to be our approach. At the same time, we feel the City of Montreal needs to look at a better way to run the Agglomeration, and we are redoubling our efforts to secure changes to how the Agglomeration functions.

Despite this unexpected increase in taxes we are still hard at work. Our Public Works crew worked right through Christmas and into the New Year clearing higher than normal amounts of snow. I look forward to speaking to residents about their ideas to improve the Urban Planning process in Westmount, all the while protecting our exceptional architectural heritage that we value so much. I continue to work with this Council to build on the very solid foundation of this City and ensure the efficient delivery of services to you, our citizens.

Image: courtesy of the City of Westmount