The City of L’Assomption almost sold the municipal nursery of Montreal – located on its territory – to the highest bidder because the metropolis did not pay its road bills.
Posted at 12:57 p.m.
Montreal owed some $160,000 in unpaid bills to the northern crown municipality earlier this month. In addition to its nursery, it owns three other vacant lots in L’Assomption.
In a notice published in the local newspaper last week, L’Assomption announced its intention to auction off the Montreal nursery and other land “for default of payment”. A few dozen other properties belonging to bad payers were going to be sold at the same time, at the beginning of November.
These lands are not subject to property tax, but a city can still charge compensation for the municipal services used. It was this bill that Montreal failed to pay.
On Thursday, the City of L’Assomption and the City of Montreal indicated to The Press that the file had been “regularized” very recently.
“It was finally agreed that Montreal will pay the amounts of compensation for municipal services as billed by L’Assomption under its municipal regulations, all in accordance with section 205 of the Municipal Tax Act “, indicate the two cities in an identical statement that they sent by email.
The municipal nursery was purchased by Montreal in 2021 to grow trees and shrubs there, which it then plants in the streets of the metropolis. It is located on rang Bas-de-L’Assomption Nord, very close to the town hall of L’Assomption.