Montreal is once again trying to find solutions to free itself from its dependence on property tax. A committee of experts chaired by the former mayor of Gatineau, Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin, will be responsible for making recommendations to the Plante administration, on the eve of a summit on municipal taxation scheduled for this fall.
“We must rethink municipal taxation so that it is adapted to the realities and challenges of today’s cities. Montreal can no longer depend solely on the property tax, which is no longer enough to finance the responsibilities that fall on us, ”explained Thursday the president of the executive committee of the City, Dominique Ollivier.
She maintains that he urges to “find new sources of income” to meet “the needs of our communities” and the “growing responsibilities of the metropolis”.
Last year, the Plante administration held a forum on taxation at the Biodôme, bringing together experts and members of civil society. This fall, another “Tax Summit” is to be held. Since June 2022, the City has been carrying out a vast “project on Montreal taxation”.
In addition to Mr. Pedneaud-Jobin, several other personalities will make up the committee, including the CEO of the Foundation of Greater Montreal, Karel Mayrand, the holder of the Chair in Taxation at the University of Sherbrooke, Luc Godbout, and the public policy consultant Suzanne Levesque.
Four other partners and advisors will be involved, namely Jean-Marc Chouinard, Martin Galarneau, Anne-Marie Hubert and Louis Lévesque.
In mid-March, The Press reported that Montreal is considering several new solutions to finance its next budget, while a deficit of 200 million is currently envisaged for 2024. Several options are on the table, including a tax on each kilometer traveled at the wheel of a vehicle, a tax on vacant housing or a tax on impermeable surfaces, in particular parking lots.
Valérie Plante and her party have long hoped to get out of the reign of property taxes as the almost sole source of municipal funding. His administration is eyeing, among other things, eco-taxation – the idea of linking taxes and environmental impact.