The root cause of assessment injustices
Dear Editor,
As a Chartered Professional Accountant and a cottage resident of McCarthy Lake, I am encouraged by the progress made by our municipality and the dedicated members of the taskforce addressing the property assessment crisis in Alleyn and Cawood.
We have seen significant strides forward, including Jane Toller’s proposal to form a committee aimed at establishing a bylaw within MRC Pontiac, which would become a regulation that reconsiders how municipal shares are calculated. She also confirmed that the 370 per cent evaluation increase would not apply to residential properties, and people would receive a revised assessment on Sept. 15. These are both crucial steps in the right direction, along with Alleyn and Cawood’s municipal plan to reduce the mill rate to reflect normal tax increases for ratepayers.
However, the core issue lies with the comparative factor used in property assessments. This flawed calculation method has come to light due to our small municipality, where the data pool is too limited to accurately reflect the true value of homes in the area. The root problem is that the comparative factor is fundamentally flawed, as it does not consider the true expansion and varied nature of our community. Instead, it is disproportionately influenced by a single developer and the sales of numerous vacant lots, rather than a blended rate based on actual property values.
The real issue remains at the provincial level, and the power lies with the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andrée LaForest. We must collectively challenge the comparative factor ‘tool’ and advocate for its complete removal. Its application in our municipality has revealed its lack of value and relevance, making it a problem not just for Alleyn and Cawood, but for all municipalities across Quebec.
This process, if implemented in any small community across Quebec, can decimate household budgets, based on the false assumption that vacant lots inherently increase community value. This is simply not the case, especially in areas lacking a main street, services, and infrastructure to support such growth. This is not Chelsea or Wakefield, or any quaint community that brings in a slew of ‘tourists’ and day trippers from Ottawa.
The province must eliminate or change the way it calculates the comparative factor to prevent such injustices from recurring elsewhere in Quebec. We are rallying all communities across the MRC Pontiac and beyond to join us in this fight. We have a petition awaiting approval at the national assembly, and while our community collected over 300 signatures in Alleyn and Cawood alone, we are asking ratepayers across Quebec to sign this provincial petition that will be posted soon and given to the Minister.
The power to change this flawed system lies with the provincial government, and we call on our elected officials in Quebec City to take action. This issue transcends Alleyn and Cawood; it is a province-wide problem that demands a province-wide solution.
Together, we can ensure a fair and equitable assessment process for all Quebec municipalities. Thank you for your continued support and engagement in this critical issue.
Yann Baillargeon, CPA
Member of the taskforce and cottager at McCarthy Lake, Municipality of Alleyn and Cawood
Equality and debt
Dear Editor,
One of the persistent contradictions arising whenever speculation about a possible federal election is afoot revolves around how governments should treat the budget, both deficit and debt. There are those who claim there is “too much” government. The suggestion is that cutbacks to public services are necessary.
However my impression is that governments are not offering enough public services to people. It seems that the government is short of cash to fix roads, provide efficient quality health care, give needed special resources to schools, draw up a vigorous plan for senior housing and care, plan mass transportation more effectively.
On the other hand we see billionaires with lavish tax breaks (look at the CEO’s of the giant corporations making tremendous profits), sports and entertainment people making astronomical salaries, and those who support this inequality and like to claim cutbacks are the solution to the public purse. We don’t ask billionaires, hockey players and singers to cut back. We ask ordinary people to cut back, to accept less.
Politicians who claim to speak for “the people” must truly be on their side. They must articulate better solutions to public challenges than saying “cut everything back”.
Carl Hager
Gatineau, QC
