Municipality of Pontiac 2011 budget, no tax increase
Mo Laidlaw
Mayor Eddie McCann presented the 2011 budget of $5.8 million at a meeting held on 11 January 2011. It was adopted unanimously by council. The general tax rate decreases 17%, from 0.7083 to 0.6232 per $100 of evaluation. The overall municipal evaluation has gone up 15.9% so the decrease in mill rate minimizes increases. However properties that have increased in value more than 15.9% will have higher tax bills than last year, and other owners will see decreases. Some examples are given below:
Taxes in Quyon, connected to municipal water and sewer:
A house evaluated at $147,800 in 2010 is now evaluated at $174,000, but with the decrease in mill rate the total taxes, including service fees, remains the same, at $1742. (The service fee for a typical house in Quyon, which includes water, sewer and garbage disposal, has increased by $21 to $658.)
Taxes in the rest of the municipality, for those with wells and septic systems:
For a sample residential property valued at $208,500 in 2010 and $257,000 in 2011, the total bill, including garbage and recycling pickup and septic inspection fee will be $1,797. This is 4% more than in 2009.
Another property whose evaluation has gone from $301,000 to $319,600 sees a decrease in total taxes from $2399 to $2181, 9% less.
Tax bills over $300 may be paid in three instalments on 1 March, 1 June and 1 October 2010.
Where the money goes
Spending on Transport (roads etc) has decreased 8%, from $1.92 million to $1.77 million, partly because paved roads do not cost so much to maintain and partly because of more competitive bidding for snowplowing contracts.
Public security (fire, police, and animal control) is down 2% to $1,416,329
Other departments
General administration is up 17% ($133,000) to $902,439, due to a new employee, salary increases and a new parking lot.
The total public health budget is down 13.5% to $823,343. This includes water and sewers as well as garbage and recycling.
Town planning, zoning and development costs are down 2% to $422,974.
Costs for recreational, leisure and cultural activities, which include parks, libraries and community centres, are down 3.7% to $336,970.
Annual interest on loans to pay for paving, the sewage lagoon, fire trucks, grader and so on, amounts to $197,282, up 2.9%.
Service fees
The cost of water and sewer fees (in Quyon) remains the same as last year.
Garbage fees (recycling and garbage pickup and disposal), increase by 1.3%, to $166.95 for residences.
Septic verification fee, for all properties except for those in the Quyon sector with sewer service, goes up 23% to $28.11.
Projects for 2011
Mayor Eddie McCann said that he expects the main focus in 2011 will be the environment, by which he means local solutions for household garbage and waste water treatment. “We are finalizing a proposal for a high temperature incinerator (to be installed on industrial-zone land on route 148 near ch Proven), and we have engaged an engineer to prepare a proposal for a waste water treatment process (to treat biosolids from septic tanks and holding tanks) beside our sewage treatment facility in Quyon. Both projects will allow us to reduce your treatment costs and create jobs and tax revenues for the municipality.
“Also in 2011 we will be constructing a new (drinking) water treatment plant in the village of Quyon. This will finally end the years of water quality concerns for the village residents.” This will be paid for by the users, starting in 2012.
The mayor will propose, early in 2011, that councillors be paid a total of $1000 per month, ($12,000 per year) with $50 per meeting for extra meetings. At the moment they are paid a total of $9,342 per year. The mayor’s salary is fixed at three times that of councillors.
Gatineau & MRC des Collines
Taxes increased by 1 to 6% in the following municipalities:
Gatineau taxes up 3.9%
La Pêche up 1%
L’Ange-Gardien up 2%
Cantley up 2.9%
Val des Monts up 2.9%
Chelsea up 4.8%
Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette up 6%.