Alleyn-et-Cawood residents send petition to Quebec City, request changes to MRC share calculations
Alleyn-et-Cawood residents send petition to Quebec City, request changes to MRC share calculations
A sizable contingent of Alleyn-et-Cawood residents turned out to MRC Pontiac’s Council of Mayors meeting on September 18 to advocate for changes in the way it calculates municipal shares and the fees that the 18 municipalities pay to the MRC.
The sale of several lots for amounts well over their assessed value in the small rural municipality caused a major increase in municipal property assessments. The city can adjust the mill rate, or the amount taxed per $100 of evaluation, meaning that a big jump in assessment wouldn’t necessarily mean a huge jump in property taxes. Homeowners also can challenge an assessment that they deem inaccurate.
However, their municipal shares in the MRC increased substantially, as did some residents’ school taxes. Alleyn-et-Cawood D.G. Isabelle Cardinal explained that their shares jumped from $114,000 to $289,147 in 2024, coming out of an annual budget of around $800,000.
She mentioned that their municipal council decided not to increase residents’ taxes but instead, they will be forced to cut into public services primarily to road maintenance by downsizing the roads crew for snow removal season.
Residents of Alleyn-et-Cawood asked the MRC to approve a resolution that would compute MRC shares using the most recent municipal assessment, omitting the comparative factor. The term “standardized value” is determined by applying a comparative factor, which expresses the difference between a property’s assessed value and sale price.
Cardinal stated that while many MRCs use the comparative factor to calculate MRC shares, others use other formulas or don’t use it at all.
While the MRC council declined to pass a resolution to eliminate comparative factor from the calculations, they did pass a notice of motion that they would be reviewing possible changes to the bylaw, which could be voted on down the road. Several municipal officials who spoke to CHIP 101.9 after the meeting said that they wanted to first understand the possible long-term impacts that such a change would have, and any other options that were available.
National Assembly petition
Alleyn-et-Cawood residents also managed to get roughly 3,000 signatures on a petition asking Minister of Municipal Affairs Andrée Laforest to look at the municipality’s comparative factor and also review the triennial roll process. After tabling the petition last week, Pontiac MNA André Fortin said that he had a discussion with the minister about the issue.
He said he was unaware of any other municipality in the province experiencing a similar situation.
