President of the Executive Committee and Head of Finances for the City of Montreal, Frank Zampino, revealed at a news conference the new roles of the thrice-yearly, valuation of the Greater Montreal area, by trying to reassure taxpayers that the recent property tax hike of $188 billion will not necessarily be expressed through tax increases.
The City of Montreal will reveal its taxation rates next December when it presents its budget. Meanwhile, several sectors fear significant tax increases especially in areas where property values increased considerably; these include less developed sectors.
Frank Zampino wanted to reassure residents: ''Property is being sold at increasingly expensive prices, and the values added to the new Role reflect this reality. However, it should be clear that the increase in property value of 40, 45 or even 50%, does not mean an increase in property taxes of 40, 45 and 50%.''
To spread out the impact of new property values, the administration proposes – among other things – to extend the duration of the next Valuation Roles from three to four years for 2007-2010, allowing increases in variations in value for value over the same period to be scaled forward. The City of Montreal is also asking the Ministre des Affaires municipalités et des régions, Nathallie Normandeau, to introduce certain measures to assist those less-favoured citizens through government financial support.
We’ll believe it when we see it, says the APQ
As a result, we are reproducing below the entire news release that the APQ gave out at a recent news conference.
Montréal, Wednesday, September 13, 2006 – L’Association des propriétaires du Québec (APQ) believes that cities like the City of Montreal this morning, must act cautiously in forecasting higher taxes, thereby moderately benefiting from increases in property value of buildings, then picking taxpayers’ pockets..
“Knowing full-well that this increase in the property value of a building does not necessarily lead to increased income, rental building landlords risk increasing rents. However, the ability to pay by several residents is limited. This can put the landlord in a very difficult situation,” says APQ President, Martin Messier. “We should wait until there is an increase in requests to have rental rates set at the Régie de logement,” he adds.
We believe that the City of Montréal is already over-taxing its landlords, and it is a shame to see that a pretext for increasing property value is to pick the pockets of taxpayers. This unfortunate situation is creating stress for small building landlords who are investing in their building to provide for a better retirement.
''It’s ironic that we can sadly remember all the beautiful promises from our politicians, who promised us lower taxes following amalgamation and de-amalgamation. But, their memories are short,” adds the APQ President.