Diane Boivin expected a steep rise in her tax bill for 2023, since the assessment of her condominium rose by 47%, much more than the average increase of 35.5% for residential properties in Montreal. With the budget tabled Tuesday by the Plante-Ollivier administration, she can anticipate an additional bill of $272, or a 7.9% increase.
“Ouch, ouch, it’s huge! “, she exclaimed when she heard the news.
How does this retired teacher plan to manage to pay this additional bill?
I’m going to have to cut entertainment, travel, shopping, all the little extras, maybe even stop some classes. I don’t have a big lifestyle, but pension increases don’t keep up with inflation, and I’m already tight.
Diane Boivin, 74 years old
Mme Boivin has lived in his residence in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce for 30 years, paid $100,000 at the time. She is now valued at $654,000, compared to $444,900 three years ago, an increase of $209,100.
His municipal tax bill for last year was $3,432. Spreading the increase in property values over three years will help absorb the shock a little, but his bill for 2023 will reach $3,703, if we take into account the borough tax.
With other citizens discouraged by the huge increase in the assessment of their property, Diane Boivin launched a petition, which collected 2,300 signatures, to ask the administration to redo the property assessment by applying the increase rates. of the last assessment, i.e. 13.6% (instead of 32% this year).
These owners point out that the assessment is made on the basis of residence prices in 2021, when Montreal was in the midst of a real estate bubble. But since then, prices have fallen.
However, since their request is unlikely to be accepted, Ms.me Boivin is instead preparing to apply for a review of his property assessment. Based on the sale prices of properties in her area, she believes that her condominium, where she has made few renovations, is worth less than the value assigned to it.
“It’s going to cost me $300 to challenge, but I don’t want to stay in an overpriced house,” she says, saying she wants to stay home as long as possible.
“It’s a lot for us”
In Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, where an average tax increase of approximately 3.9% is projected, Louise Sauvageau, resident of 14e Avenue, will suffer an increase of approximately $172 in its tax bill. In his case, it is a jump of 3.5%, calculated on a building value of approximately $842,000 according to the current roll. His lower tax increase is explained by the lower value of his building, namely approximately 33% compared to 36% overall, in the borough.
Even if she considers the increase “reasonable” – being below the rate of inflation – the main interested party does not hide her concerns, in an interview with The Press.
“It is still a municipal tax bill that will exceed $5,000. If we add to that the school tax bill of more than $800 that awaits me in 2022, […] I arrive at a total level of taxes approaching $6,000. It’s a lot for us, who are retired, “says Mme Sauvageau, who has lived with her partner for fifty years now.
In 1977, Mr.me Sauvageau remembers paying $35,000 for his house. At that time, she says, “we were two early-career professionals with an annual gross couple income of $28,000.” But now in retirement, their “income is leveling off”.
Despite everything, the Montrealer considers herself luckier than many others, in the current context. Because in his eyes, “it is the Montreal households who have mouths to feed and a mortgage to pay who will suffer the most”.
“With the increase in land values and selling prices, Montreal has now become too expensive for middle-class families. You had to buy before the pandemic. The situation having now changed, the winners are those who acquired a Montreal property before the 2019 bidding escalation,” she said.