MRC Meeting 2025 budget announced; Alleyn-et-Cawood stands their ground
Bonnie James
Local Journalism Initiative
MRC PONTIAC – The MRC Pontiac’s Council of Mayors’ (CoM) monthly meeting was held November 27 at the MRC headquarters in Litchfield with around 16 Alleyn-et-Cawood (AC)
residents and supporters in attendance.
Question Period
AC Councillor Sidney Squitti read a resolution passed by their council at the November meeting calling for the nullification of the 2025 triennial assessment roll under Section 171 of the Municipal Tax Act. The resolution states the reason for the request is “significant and glaring increases in property values” ranging from 30% to over 700% and gives the example of a property that went up from $2,100 (2022-2024) to $95,200 (2025), a 4,523% increase.
AC Director General Isabelle Cardinal asked MRC Warden Jane Toller why the municipality is required to pay shares for 2024 based on a 3.7 comparative factor if that number was not representative of all properties. Toller asked Cardinal if AC has paid its shares for 2024; Cardinal stated they have not. Toller told Cardinal that they have to pay their shares, or the other municipalities will have to foot the bill. Cardinal replied that all mayors have a duty to address this situation, as it is a regional issue.
370% Evaluation Task Force Chair Angela Giroux suggested using the MRC surplus to pay the difference for the disputed charge the municipality received. Toller said this couldn’t be done as it would set a precedent that would be problematic in the future if other municipalities have years with abnormally high shares.
MRC bylaw concerning municipal shares
The MRC tabled its new draft bylaw concerning the calculation of municipal shares in response to the concerns raised by AC. Shares will now be calculated based on 50% of a municipality’s total property values and 50% of the total standardized value, as
determined by the comparative factor. Under the previous bylaw, the shares were calculated based solely on the standardized value. Adding the real property value to the calculation will provide some protection against anomalies like those experienced by Chichester and Alleyn-et-Cawood in recent years. There will be no public consultation on the draft bylaw.
MRC budget passed
The 2025 budget was presented and approved. The total budget revenue was $8,913,136, a drop of approximately 10% from 2024 ($9,858.728), mostly due to a decrease in
development grant funds. The revenue generated from municipal shares was recorded as the same as 2024, at $4,206,500, but this represented an increase of 4% of the overall revenue.
Expenses also reduced, primarily in the funds allocated for strategic development (FRR Streams 1-4), which dropped by over $1M. FRR 1 & 2 have ended but new funds are anticipated and are included in the budget. FRR 3 & 4 still have funds available but those funds aren’t included in this year’s budget.
Salaries and benefits increased by approximately 5%, with contracts paid for assessments decreasing but professional human resource expenses increasing by almost the same amount.
An appropriation from the surplus was required to balance the budget, increasing by approximately 12% from 2024, going from $144,897 to $162,309.
AC Mayor Mayer voted against passing the budget, all other mayors voted in favour.
The complete budget is available on the MRC Pontiac website: https://mrcpontiac.qc.ca/
en/mrc/budget-finances.
Mount O’Brien protected area proposal
A resolution presented to support the analysis of a proposed expansion of the Mount O’Brien Biodiversity Reserve in Alleyn-et-Cawood was squashed 10-8 against the proposal.
AC’s DG Isabelle Cardinal told the Journal the municipality does not support the proposal as the group responsible, the Mount O’Brien Association, did not consult the municipality in the proposal’s creation. Moreover, Cardinal said there are no AC ratepayers or municipal representatives on the association’s board.
AC has its own plans for the proposed area, having recently received a $100,000 FRR 4 grant to improve the recreational site with new walking trails and outhouses and to improve the road into the site.
Environment Committee
Council moved to add two new members to the Environment Committee: Otter Lake Acting Mayor Jennifer Quaile and Portage-du-Fort Mayor Lynn Cameron. The committee’s main mandate is waste management as established by the Residual Materials Management Plan (PGMR), but it can also address any issue relating to environment, such as climate change, radon, or issues affecting the Ottawa River.
The next CoM meeting will be held December 18.
