Sherbrooke: City announces tax hike and swimming pool tax

According to the 2024 budget approved by the Municipal Council Tuesday evening, Sherbrooke citizens will receive an average tax bill increase of 3.13%, and swimming pool owners will receive an $80 annual bill starting next summer.

When she takes office in the fall of 2021, Mayor Evelyn Beaudin and her Sherbrooke Citizen Party have promised to maintain the same tax increase as mandated every year, i.e. 3%.

After honoring its commitment in the 2022 and 2023 budget years, the inflationary context forced it to deviate slightly from its commitment to achieve a balanced budget while maintaining services to citizens.

“We must not be rigid, ideological and dogmatic. We have to adapt to the situation and the economic context, and with our budget we are showing this year, explains Hotel-Dieu district councilor and Sherbrooke citizen Laure Letarte member.-The way. Yes, maybe the figure is 3% said, but, for me, always important is predictable.

Sherbrooke Municipal Council president and independent councillor, Daniel Berthold, believes it is the right thing to do.

“When Sherbrooke Citizen made a commitment to honor 3% for a four-year period, I think everyone was honest. Now, facing today’s reality with inflation, I think it would be a good open minded move for the citizen of Sherbrooke to agree to the increase to 3.13%. I think the majority of the council will agree with this increase,” she asserted.

For comparison, the city of Montreal received an average tax increase of 4.9%, Longueuil 5.8% and Quebec 3.9% by 2024.

New swimming pool tax

While Sherbrooke taxpayers will benefit from a relatively small tax increase compared to other large Quebec cities, they will have to bear some additional costs.

For example, a new tax of $80 would be levied on every pool owner, regardless of size. The invoice will be sent later in 2024, but the city will take inventory of all private swimming pools in its territory.

Landowners in industrial zones are taxed $113 for every square meter of their property covered with asphalt, gravel or concrete.

Some councilors voted against the budget, citing particularly poor spending control.

“The people of Sherbrooke will not be fooled. While the property tax increase is around 3%, some will have a swimming pool tax increase of around 6%,” explained Rock Forest District Independent Councilor Annie Godbout.

Independent councilor for the Pin-Solitaire district, Helen Dauphinais, is also eyeing an average increase of 3.13%. “There are other cities that have approved 4% or 5% increases, but they haven’t added any new taxes.”

Parking fees in Sherbrooke will increase from $1.50 to $2 an hour, and free parking offered during the holiday season in the city center has been eliminated, as has a municipal program that subsidized electric charging stations.

Improvement of electricity network

As recently announced by Hydro-Québec, the City of Sherbrooke is planning major investments to improve the Hydro-Sherbrook electrical network.

Over the next five years, more than $37 million will be injected. The budget allocated to pruning will also be increased to $400,000 per year.