Westmount mayor blames Montreal for 3% property tax hike

It's Westmount's turn to feel the tax burn.

The demerged city has announced a three per cent property tax hike, which translates to an extra of about$394 for the average homeowner.

Last week, Mayor Christina Smith said the city would have to go back to the books after Montreal's administration tabled its first budget, which asked more from its demergedcities than expected.

• Demerged municipalities, hurt by high tax increases, want Plante to revisit budget
• Property taxes jump in Valrie Plante's 1st budget

Municipalities on the island likeWestmount, Cte-Saint-Luc and Montreal Westpay Montreal for servicesincluding public transit, police, fire and water.

Westmountwill have to pay the city of Montreal 6.7 per cent more this year than the one before.

Smith said last week that Westmount's own budget, which had already been drafted, had only accounted for an increase matching the inflation rate.

How Westmountfits in

She and the mayors of other demergedcities have asked that Montreal Mayor Valrie Planterevisit her budget, but Plantesays the city has to pay for significant water infrastructure upgrades as well as an increased allowance topublic security.

"Investing in water is important, I get that," Smith said at Westmount's council meeting Thursday evening. "Public transit, we get that. But there's got tobe a way to do it without this type of spending increase."

Patrick Barnard, aWestmountresident who was at the council meeting, says be believes his municipality should pay more.

"It needs to pay for infrastructure work. It needs to pay so thatSainte-Catherine[Street] is fixednot in four years, but in two or one."

According to a June 2016 report in Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine, the median price for a home in Westmount is $1.8 million. That compares to a$252,450 median price for homes in the whole province.