Budget and financial reports

Dear citizens, 

I am pleased to announce that Council has adopted the 2025 budget. We were able to contain the increase in the Beaconsfield portion of the property tax to 2.86%. If we add the waste and water taxes managed by Beaconsfield, the tax bill increases by 3.25%. The attached table details the tax rates for calculating the taxes for a property of average value, currently evaluated at $1,033,418, with a medium-sized 240l garbage bin and an average water consumption of 300m3. 2025 is also the last year of the property assessment roll. 

Regarding the portion of the Montréal Agglomeration, our proportionate share has increased by 4.21%. This results in an overall increase of 3.30% in agglomeration services on the tax bill for a property of average value. 

The first instalment of your tax bill will be due on February 27, 2025, and the second on May 29, 2025. 

To reflect the work of the City's Finance Committee, we thought it would be interesting to present a table showing the history of tax rates since 2013. We note that the tax increase for the Beaconsfield portion is 19.41%, less than the CPI for the Montreal region of 32.9%, while the tax increase to pay for the Agglomeration's proportionate shares is 58.34%. 

While we appreciate the various services provided by the Agglomeration, I cannot stress enough that we are paying way too much for these services. As you know, Council has mandated the administration and legal counsellors to take all necessary means to demonstrate this injustice from a technical and a legal point of view. The City is awaiting the hearing dates hoping to settle the case of the proportionate shares with the claimed amount exceeding 19.750 million dollars excluding interest. 

With this budget, the City of Beaconsfield is committed to maintaining and upgrading its buildings and infrastructure to meet the current and future needs of our community. One of our key initiatives is the refurbishment of the Recreation Centre to provide modern, inclusive and adapted facilities. At the same time, significant annual investments are made to maintain our essential infrastructure such as roads, pavements, sewers and drainage systems to ensure a functional and enjoyable living environment for all. These efforts include improvement projects such as resurfacing our roads and strengthening our resilience to climate challenges, with a particular focus on maintaining ditches and drainage systems. Every dollar invested in these projects is a step towards a sustainable, healthy and inclusive future for our community. 

You can always count on me as well as on the members of Council and the administration to protect your interests and to preserve our quality of life in Beaconsfield. 

Your Mayor,

Georges Bourelle

Beaconsfield’s share

• 2.86% property tax increase for residential properties
• Annual garbage fee increases: by $5 for a 120-litre bin (total $195), $5 for a 240-litre bin (total $215), and $15 for a 360-litre bin (total $245)
• Incentive tariff increase per lift: by $0.30 for a 120-litre bin (total $1.85), $0.30 for a 240-litre bin (total $2.70), and $0.30 for a 360-litre bin (total $3.55)
• $40 annual water rate maintained
• Water rate increase from $0.8687/m³ to $0.9215/m³
• 3.25% total tax increase for Beaconsfield’s share - for the average home with a 240 L bin using 29 waste collections (12 of which are included in the flat rate) and consuming 300m³ of drinking water, representing $83.81.

Agglomeration of Montreal share

• 2.80% property tax increase
• 12.95% water tax increase
• 3.30% total agglomeration tax increase

Combined share

• 3.28% overall annual increase

To reflect the work of the City's Finance Committee, we thought it would be interesting to present a table showing the history of tax rates since 2013.  We note that the tax increase for the Beaconsfield portion is 19.41%, which is slightly more than half of the comparable CPI for the Montréal region of 32.9%, while the tax increase to pay for the Agglomeration's proportionate shares is 58.34%, nearly double the CPI for the same period.

The City’s budget was adopted according to the standards established by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Land Occupancy. The elements of the budget that seem most interesting to us for the activities we manage in Beaconsfield are listed below.

Increasing revenue:

• $1,127,777 for our Agglomeration share
• $742,652 in lieu of taxes and government transfers, mainly as a result of the tax pact
• $561,809 for the local property tax
• $371,500 from reserve funds
• $160,100 for the water tax – Agglomeration share
• $128,261 for the water tax – Beaconsfield share

Decreasing revenue:

• $35,000 from dog licences
• $25,000 from municipal court fines

Reserves and surpluses:

• $1,200,000 to balance the budget
• $275,000 to prepare for the 2025 general election
• $200,000 in urban forestry to subsidize tree planting on private properties and urban forestry maintenance
• $150,000 for climate change
• $124,000 for innovation
• $35,000 in various professional services

The budgetary expenditure categories are revised according to anticipated needs and costs. The details of the most significant changes are summarized below:

Revised increasing expenses:

• $1,127,600 for our Agglomeration share
• $917,841 for salaries and fringe benefits, including additional resources
• 242,500 for the 2025 elections
• $217,205 for repayment of debt in capital and interest
• $168,159 for waste management and recycling
• $160,100 for the purchase and distribution of drinking water
• $159,200 for tree maintenance
• $148,209 for leisure activities and culture
• $100,000 for sump pump inspections
• $79,000 for archive digitization
• $50,000 for canopy donations and grants
• $42,821 for snow removal

Revised decreasing expenses:

• $600,000 for drainage (activity transferred to a loan by-law)
• $155,189 for green waste collection
• $110,000 for scientific and engineering services
• $80,000 for traffic and parking

The 2024 projects for the 2024-2026 PTI show the general intentions of the Council to improve municipal assets, infrastructure and various equipment. These are investments for an estimated total amount of $15,960,000. The sources of funding will be:

• $4.005 M from the working capital fund
• $1.6 M in subsidies for various projects
• $2.550 M from the operating budget for road work, ditch repair and building maintenance
• $6.750 M from long-term loans
• $1.055 M from reserves and surplus for professional services and various projects.

Read more

Please consult the brief and the application for judicial review filed in Superior Court and its amendments (in French only):

• Mémoire pour rétablir l’équité des quotesparts de l’agglomération de Montréal, annexe, tableaux
• Demande introductive d’instance en contrôle judiciaire
• Demande introductive d’instance en contrôle judiciaire modifiée datée du 2 février 2021
• Demande introductive d’instance en contrôle judiciaire modifiée datée du 5 janvier 2022

Request to participate in the negotiating committee on the revision of the Agglomeration of Montreal (in French only):

• Lettre du Maire - Mise à niveau de l'entente constitutive de l'Agglomération de Montréal
• Lettre du Maire - Participation au comité de négociation sur la révision de l'Agglomération de Montréal

Press releases:

• Lawsuit over taxes overpaid to the Agglomeration - Beaconsfield now claiming more than $15.4M from Montréal (February 27, 2024) 
• Proportionate shares paid to Montréal Agglomeration - Beaconsfield mandates its representatives to participate in negotiations (February 21, 2023)
• Agglomeration surtax of 19 million dollars for Beaconsfield, 122 million dollars for the 15 demerged cities (December 1, 2022)
• Overtaxation by Montréal Agglomeration - Beaconsfield increases claim from 6 to 10 million dollars (September 21, 2022)

Budget and financial reports (2024)