Laval residents will suffer tax increases of 2.9% next year. In its 2023 budget tabled on Friday, the administration of Mayor Stéphane Boyer says it wants to prioritize public safety and housing.
Ville de Laval’s budget will cross the billion mark next year to reach 1.05 billion, while the three-year capital expenditure program (PTI) 2023-2025 will climb to 1.2 billion.
To limit tax increases to 2.9% for the residential sector, the Boyer administration says it has made rationalization efforts. In particular, it reduced new hiring by three quarters. “We have done our best to limit new spending while avoiding cutting public services,” Mayor Boyer commented in a press release. “Since the beginning of my mandate, taxes have increased half as fast as inflation. »
Laval has also increased certain fares. Thus, an additional contribution of $19 will be requested from households to fund public transit. An additional $27 will be used to fund water service and reduce overflows.
The public security budget will reach 219.6 million, with an additional investment of 2.5 million for the hiring of police officers and for the addition of resources to the 911 central. The City will also invest an additional amount of 5, $9 million for prevention activities carried out by community organizations.
In housing, Laval will set aside an additional $7 million to withdraw housing from the speculative market and $2.5 million for the purchase of land intended for social housing.
In terms of the environment, a new fee of $100 will be imposed on owners of residences equipped with an oil heating system and an amount of $50 will be required of those who have a dual-energy oil system. The City aims to halve the number of oil heating systems on its territory by 2025.
A “disconnected” budget
The opposition party Action Laval judges that by imposing tax increases on citizens, the budget of the Boyer administration is “disconnected from the reality” of Laval residents. The budget provides for additional spending of 8.8% and the hiring of some sixty new employees, an increase of 11% in the number of employees, without improving Laval’s infrastructures and services, denounced Action Laval. “We need to review all of the city’s spending,” said Achille Cifelli, acting head of Action Laval and councilor for the Val-des-Arbres district.
For its part, the Parti Laval considers that the Boyer administration has not made enough efforts to rationalize its resources in a context where the inflation rate remains high. The interim leader of the Parti Laval and councilor for Fabreville, Claude Larochelle, also believes that the City is not investing enough in the maintenance of its roads, while in her 2021 report, the auditor general had revealed that 17% of the streets of Laval were in poor or very poor condition. Mr. Larochelle also called for more investment in sports and cultural infrastructure in sectors that are less well served.