Laval's 2024 budget
"Laval tax burden up 7.4%, spending up 7.2%, debt service exploding while our neighborhoods have crying needs!" - Claude Larochelle
Laval, Wednesday, December 13, 2022 - The Opposition at Laval City Hall is reacting strongly to the 2024 budget tabled by Mayor Stéphane Boyer. The interim leader of Parti Laval and Fabreville councillor, Claude Larochelle, begins by expressing his dismay at the opacity of the process: "There's talk everywhere of a 4.8% increase, but Mayor Boyer very consciously fails to mention that Laval will now be taxing each and every vehicle owned by the people of Laval to the tune of 59$ from their registrations. A new municipal power that Stéphane Boyer quickly and discreetly took advantage of as vice-president of the CMM. When you add the two increases together, it's an average increase of more than 7.4% that Laval taxpayers will have to bear in order to finance municipal activities," says Boyer.
Needs will have to wait!
"We wish the 2024 budget had taken into account our city's crying needs! We needed a significant increase in the number of police officers dedicated to road safety, to make it a real priority, to increase the number of employees assigned to issuing municipal permits to reduce delays, to add blue-collar workers to maintain our roads, and unfortunately none of this is reflected in the 2024 budget! How disappointing! On the other hand, the mayor's and the city's communications and marketing will be well taken care of: a 23% increase in the communications budget to 16.9M$," says Louise Lortie, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin city councillor.
"Today's budget follows in the footsteps of previous budgets by the Boyer administration, where spending is increasing at a rate of 7.2%, higher than inflation, and where the mayor is making Laval residents pay more and more, while the services and needs of the neighbourhoods are not being met! Debt servicing will double with all Mayor Boyer's costly and questionable projects between now and 2026, to 192M$/year. It's a budget that bodes absolutely no good for the years to come," concludes Claude Larochelle!
Source: Parti Laval Cabinet
Information: Tommy Vallée, Communications Manager | 438 875-8663 | t.vallee@laval.ca