In a difficult context of inflation, the city of Lévis has set the tax increase for single-family homeowners at 2.6%, while raising rates that ultimately reach up to 4.6% in their pockets.
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For corporate, industrial and six-apartment buildings, the increases are even steeper, with tax increases of 4.4%, 5.3% and 5.5%. If we add up the price increases, the increases are 4.6%, 6.8%, and 6.8%, respectively.
“An easy budget for cities and municipalities with the inflation we are familiar with? The answer is no. Only us, with a cost of $12 million related to inflation, we leave immediately with a strike,” Mayor Gilles Lehouillier said at the budget presentation on Monday.
Stevens LeBlanc / Journal de Quebec
inflation
The city of Lévis is no exception and is affected by the economic environment. Projected inflation would have justified a tax increase of 6.9%. Mayor Lehouillier’s City has had to make “considerable efforts” to keep overall taxation below inflation. Single-family homeowners should expect a 2.6% increase, or $61 for an average home of $329,700. It’s still slightly above the average increase since Mr Lehouillier took office in 2013, or 2.1%. Add to that the $23 increase in the water fee, $23 in the waste management fee, and $14 in the wastewater treatment fee.
For six-unit buildings, which are subject to a 5.5 percent tax increase, the mayor is talking about a “rebalancing” because Lévis’ tax rate of $100 was lower than some other major cities.
Inflation weighed on the spending budget by $358.7 million on an economic bill of $12 million. It was the cost of contracts, fuel, energy and product purchases that increased spending.
Stevens LeBlanc / Journal de Quebec
Continued economic growth has been a balm for the city, with a record number of building and renovation permits generating an additional $6.4 million in revenue.
The situation could have been worse, the mayor agrees, as Lévis chose to reintroduce $3.4 million from its surplus to “minimize the impact on taxpayers’ taxes.”
Services
Lévis decides to upgrade its services by $2.7 million, but on a smaller scale than desired. The improvements concern residues, the addition of ice hours, entertainment at the Paquet dock and the contribution to the Société de transport de Lévis.
debts
The debt keeps rising. It is valued at $481 million as of December 31, 2022 and $529 million as of December 31, 2023. However, the city maintains that its debt management is “responsible.” In fact, total long-term debt to income fell from 144% in 2020 to 129% in 2021. That was a recommendation from the Auditor General. Debt service has increased from 19.8% to 19.2% of the total budget. In 2023, the debt service amounts to $68.7 million.
Stevens LeBlanc / Journal de Quebec
The opposition votes for it
The budget was approved in a special session of the municipal council. The only opposition councilor, Serge Bonin, voted in favor of the budget “while expressing some expectations”.
The adviser recently denounced the “lack of cooperation” by the Lehouillier government, which he accused of restricting the flow of information.
“Following the press conference where I asked for more information, I received my first confirmation from the Mayor’s Office regarding my budget questions, for which I thank them. However, the process remains very tight in terms of time: we are talking about a few hours before the only working session in committee of the whole to obtain the second and final preparatory document. I always strive for cooperation to improve from year to year,” he emphasized in a press release.