Its tax bill has risen by 11.46%: staff shortages have worsened the situation in Mirabel

Data compiled by the team Inquiry Office Several hundred municipalities demonstrate that many towns and villages in Quebec do not hesitate to raise taxes beyond inflation. News magazine Met with citizens and mayors of these cities expressing their views.

A locomotive engineer from Mirabel, seeing his tax bill increase by more than 11.46%, found it a hard pill to swallow, but understood that the city needed to generate new revenue for its coffers.

“Of course it hurts, but everything is going up, so it’s normal for taxes to go up, especially in Mirabel where they’re really low,” shared Luc Cloutier, father of two.

“Everything costs more. Labor too. The infrastructure in Mirabel started a little. It is a growing city, so it is normal for taxes to go up,” he added.

According to him, it is unfortunate that cities have come to this, but they have no choice because of the explosion in the cost of living.

Twenty kilometers from Montreal, in Laurentians, Mirabel has 61,108 citizens, 87% of whose economic activity revolves around the agricultural sector.

However, Luc Cloutier said that in this part of the country, the staffing shortage is glaring.

“There is shortage of staff everywhere. They have no choice but to increase their salaries. Cities have to get money in a certain way,” asserted the railway worker.

Created in 1971 from the merger of 14 municipalities, Mirabel is one of Quebec’s top 20 cities.

The mayor agrees

For its mayor, Patrick Charbonneau, the figure of 11.46% increase may be “scary”, but it can be explained in several ways.

“With the tax rate we have, 11.46% is easily comparable to 5% in another city,” he argued in an interview. Log.

At a rate of 36.6 cents per $100 of valuation, Mirabel had a very low rate, recalling that for nine years, there was a freeze on increases.

Amphitheater, crowding, snow removal, new hires, community organizations… want to maintain the quality of services, Mirabel said.

“To help the agricultural world, we’re at 29 cents per $100,” he concluded.