Press release #2 - Ville de Montréal 2015 Budget - Montréal, a city that respects the ability of citizens to pay

MONTRÉAL, Nov. 26, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - "No increase in expenditures." That is the main highlight resulting from the 2015 Budget that was tabled today by the Coderre administration. The budget stands at $4,882.6 million, down $12.8 million compared to 2014.

"Last year, we were able to limit increases in expenditures to 0.3% in our transitional budget. For this first "real" budget since we took over at city hall one year ago, we are proud to say that there is no increase in expenditures. City charges have even decreased by 0.3% compared to 2014. Limiting expenditures last year was a real achievement. Curbing expenditures and decreasing them by 0.3% this year more or less represents a historic achievement. It is a first since the creation of the new city in 2002," said Mayor Denis Coderre.

The growth of tax charges under city council responsibility was limited to 2%. This results in a 2% growth, on average, of the general tax charges for non-residential properties and 1.8 % for residential properties.

These historic figures are the result of significant efforts to control expenditures:

• A rigorous plan to reduce the labour force and the implementation of the Plan quinquennal de la main-d'oeuvre (five-year labour force plan) have helped significantly to control expenditures by reducing the payroll, which more or less represents 50% of the city budget. Compared to the 2014 budget, this represents a net payroll reduction of 410 person-years. In the 2015 Budget, overall remuneration stands at $2,406 million, which represents 49.2% of the city's overall budget for operating expenditures, a decrease of $98.1 million, or 3.9% compared to the 2014 budget. Note that the plan's objective is to cut, by the 2019 budget, more than 2, 200  person-years, mainly by attrition, in order to achieve savings of approximately $240 million after five years.
• The 2015 operating budget includes financial impacts of more than $68 million following the measures that were announced in the 2015 Québec transitory fiscal pact. This amount does not include the impacts associated with city investment expenditures. However, these measures were absorbed following a review of the increase of cash payment of capital expenditures that was originally projected as well as savings achieved as part of the five-year labour force plan.
• The overall costs of Ville de Montréal pension plans, which stood at $137 million in 2002, have exploded to $598.2 million in 2014. At the request of municipalities, the Québec government tabled Bill 3, which aims, among others, at a 50/50 sharing of costs between the city and its employees. In 2015, we anticipate that the costs associated with the pension plans will decrease slightly to $494.6 million, for a savings of $103.6 million, as a result of solid market performance since 2012, as well as legislative provisions included in Bill 3.

The city plans to continue negotiations with union partners to find sustainable solutions to reduce pension plan costs.

"The 2015 Budget reflects our commitment to renew the social contract between citizens and their city. We have taken notice of the situation and are acting to restore citizen confidence and make Montrealers proud of their city, once again. The new measures that were introduced will help to build Montréal into the thriving and upright metropolis it must become," said Mayor Coderre.

The 2% increase in tax charges under the responsibility of the city council translates into a change in total tax charges of 2% for non-residential properties and 1.8% for residential properties, for each borough, as shown in the following table.

This table does not include the effect of decisions made by the boroughs regarding their service taxes.

PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2014/11/26/20141126_C4942_PDF_EN_8540.pdf

SOURCE: Ville de Montréal - Cabinet du maire et du comité exécutif

Anne Roy, Press Attaché, Office of the Mayor and Executive Committee, 514 346-7598