Mo Laidlaw
Mo Laidlaw
MUNICIPALITY OF PONTIAC – At the municipality of Pontiac’s budget meeting, December 16, 2014, the 2015 budget of $7.1 million was passed by a majority of councillors. Councillors Pontiroli and Amyotte voted against the budget, stating that they had little or no input. “We were only invited to two meetings to discuss the budget, by which time it had been decided by the Finance committee,” said Dr Amyotte.
According to Mayor Roger Larose there were 10 meetings to work on the budget. He thanked the Finance committee for their hard work and said in his speech: “This year the municipality is faced with budget cuts that were introduced by the Quebec government, including an increase of our share payable to the MRC des Collines. Nevertheless, we were able to limit the increase of operating expenses to 2.6%, in relation to the 2014 budget.”
The general rate is 0.5863 per $100 evaluation for all types of property; once loans for the entire municipality are added (which everyone pays) the rate increases to 0.6306.
In addition there are sector taxes: for the sewage lagoon in Quyon, paid by those with sewers, and for paving some roads, paid by residents on those roads.
Service charges,
in addition to taxes
The service charge for garbage and recycling pickup and disposal fees has gone down 0.47%. For a residence the fee is $216.56.
The service charge for water, payable by those with water mains in Quyon, has gone up 3.11%. For a residence the fee is $334.62.
The service charge for sewers, payable by those with sewers in Quyon, has gone up 5.07%. For a residence the fee is $247.41.
Where the money goes
Public safety is a big item, totalling $1,944,903, up 9%. This includes MRC police, fire department, animal control and civil security.
Transport includes
road maintenance and snow plowing totalling $1,942,734, down 3%. (Paved roads require less maintenance than gravel roads.)
Administration is up 4% to $1,096,902.
Public hygiene, which includes Quyon’s water and sewer, as well as garbage and recycling, totals $1,093,542, down 10%.
Planning (urbanism) is up 16%, totalling $465,202.
Leisure and culture (recreation and libraries) is up 27% to $305,390.
Servicing debt (interest etc) is down 10% to $247,009.
Comparisons with other municipalities in MRC des Collines and the city of Gatineau are not straight forward because they all report different items. In Gatineau, salaries are 47% of the budget, servicing debt is 12% (3.5% in the Municipality of Pontiac) and public transportation is 10%.
Some other comparisons: L’Ange-Gardien: tax rate 0.646. Increase 1.5%; Cantley: tax rate 0.7393 for residential property and 1.1599 for non-residential property. No increase; La Pêche: increase 2%. Total budget $12.5 million.
