Mayors pass resolution to change share calculation, add information session in January
Mayors pass resolution to change share calculation, add information session in January
At the MRC Pontiac council of mayors meeting on December 18, council passed a resolution to change the way that it calculates its shares, which are the fees that the MRC charges its municipalities for various services. The issue has attracted quite a bit of attention in previous months, led by a group from the Municipality of Alleyn-et-Cawood.
Alleyn-et-Cawood’s shares surged by more than 150% between 2023 and 2024, from $112,539 to $289,148. The sale of a number of lots for amounts well over their assessed value in the small rural municipality caused a major increase to municipal property assessments, which spurred the spike. Though their shares are set to decline significantly in 2025, residents have repeatedly requested that council eliminate comparative factor from the share calculations. Comparative factor is a way of expressing the difference between a property’s assessed value and its sale price.
The new share formula by-law would reduce the impact of comparative factor by calculating half a municipality’s share based on their assessed value and half on standardized value (which includes comparative factor). Currently, the shares are calculated entirely based on standardized value, which is the default formula for MRCs that haven’t opted to create their own by-law.
Prior to the vote on the share-calculation resolution, Alleyn-et-Cawood Mayor Carl Mayer attempted to introduce a resolution to defer the vote until their January meeting in order to hear information presented by Charles Lepoutre, a long-time municipal evaluator, who gave a presentation hosted by Alleyn-et-Cawood on December 14. Warden Jane Toller invited him to speak at a January gathering of the mayors.
Speaking during the public question period prior to the vote, Angela Giroux, one of the organizers of the citizens group advocating for the elimination of comparative factor, said that she hoped the mayors would consider what Lepoutre had to say before they passed their by-law.
Deferral voted down, new share formula approved
Mayer’s resolution was voted down 13 to 5, with Mayer, Bristol Mayor Brent Orr, Bryson Mayor Alain Gagnon, Otter Lake pro-Mayor Robin Zacharias, and Thorne pro-Mayor Robert Wills voting in favour. However, the information session with Lepoutre will go ahead regardless.
The mayors then voted on the share formula bylaw, which included a slight amendment from the previous draft version, which ensured that interest would be charged on any outstanding share amounts from 2024, at 2% per month starting January 1. At the time of the meeting, Alleyn-et-Cawood was the only municipality that had not yet paid their 2024 shares.
The resolution passed 15 to 3 with Mayer, Wills and Zacharias voting against.
During the public question period, Toller said that she thought that Lepoutre’s presentation was “good information”. She added that the share formula was a “work in progress” and further amendments to how they’re calculated could be introduced in the future.
