Budget

At the meeting of December 6, 2021, City Council adopted the 2022 budget. You can review the council meeting or consult the presentation (in French) broadcast during that evening.

The new budget reflects City Council’s commitment to ensuring sound management of our municipal finances and to delivering high-quality services at the lowest possible cost. It was also drawn up in accordance with the following priorities:

  • limit increases in the wage bill to the rate of inflation;
  • limit the increase in expenditures to the planned increases in contractual agreements and the rate of inflation;
  • limit the increase in the portion of the tax bill covering local services to the rate of inflation, and fully tax the increase in shares paid to the Agglomeration and the CMM.

This budget, which is set at $61,533,289, includes all general property taxes that cover services offered by Saint-Lambert, the Agglomeration of Longueuil, and the Communauté metropolitan de Montréal (CMM).

The Ville de Saint-Lambert, as the other related municipalities, collects the taxes required for the Longueuil Agglomeration’s operations, in the form of a contributory “share,” which is paid directly to the Longueuil Agglomeration. For more information, you can consult the Longueuil's website.

Highlights

Through rigorous management of local expenditures, the increase in the portion of the tax bill for local services is limited to 4.36%, i.e. below the rate of inflation. The share (portion) for the Agglomération de Longueuil, however, increases by 11.35%, and Saint-Lambert has no control over this. The overall tax rate therefore stands at 7.9% for the average house in 2022.

For residences, this translates to a tax rate of $0.8397 for every $100 of valuation, compared to $1.0021 in 2021. The average tax bill for a single-family residence evaluated at $823,292 and whose value is stable will therefore increase by $506 for the year 2022.

The 2022 budget proposes renewing and adding certain services:

  • maintaining free access to sports facilities for organizations offering services to young people;
  • maintaining free access to public transit for low-income seniors by offering monthly “Accès 65 Hors Pointe” transit passes;
  • a pilot project of snow removal alerts to allow for some overnight street parking;
  • increasing investments in tree planting by $100,000, to be funded by the increase in fees charged for filling residential pools;
  • increasing the library’s opening hours, through a budget allocation of $50,000; and
  • opening the arena during the summer, which will generate an estimated $23,000 in additional net revenues.

The 2022 budget includes mainly the following changes to the service offer:

  • City Council will re-examine the budgetary envelope for grants to organizations and partners in order to take into account their mission, number of users and financial situation. The sponsorship grant agreement with the Corporation for the Economic Development of Saint-Lambert will therefore not be renewed beyond December 31, 2021.
  • For both environmental and economic reasons, there will no longer be a print edition of the Leisure à la carte program. In addition, the municipal magazine Vivre Saint-Lambert will become a seasonal publication, going from 6 to 4 issues annually.

Investments

Controlling the debt is the main challenge faced by City Council in terms of the budget, particularly as major investments are essential if we are to continue remedying the cumulative deficit in our municipal infrastructure maintenance in order to ensure ongoing quality of life and security for citizens. Consult the three-year capital expenditure program to find out what projects are planned for this year.

Distribution of revenues

  • Water pricing: An increase of approximately $100,000 arising from the increase in fees charged for supplying water for swimming pools.
  • In lieu of taxes: Modifications to the compensations-in-lieu-of-taxes paid by the Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l’Habitation (MAMH), applicable as of January 1, 2022.
  • Transfer duties: Based on the history of the last five years and the January 2020 adoption of an amendment to the by-law providing for a rate of 3% for each portion of the tax base that exceeds $500,000.
  • Grants: The repayment of capital must be presented as a reduction in the debt service and the repayment of interest must be presented as a grant.
  • Recreation, Sports and Community Services: Additional revenues estimated at a little over $50,000 following the opening of the arena year-round.
  • Library, arts and culture: Increase in the contribution from the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications based on the planned expenditures.
  • Other revenues: Decrease of $650,000 resulting from the contribution from non-allocated surpluses and decrease of $183,500 resulting from the financial reserve for elections.

2022 budget in $ 2021 budget in $ Difference in $ Difference in %
Progressive cash program 3 500 000 3 250 000 250 000 7,69
Local services 20 269 039 19 071 129 1 197 910 6,28
Agglomeration services 25 337 980 23 964 083 1 373 897 5,73
CMM 639 908 636 860 3 048 0,48
Sector taxes 88 000 88 544 -544 -0,61
Water pricing 377 950 268 790 109 160 40,61
In lieu of taxes 1 511 600 1 343 309 168 291 12,53
Transfer taxes 4 250 000 4 000 000 250 000 6,25
Tickets 625 000 625 000 0 0
Public works, engineering and town planning 429 488 406 494 22 994 5,66
Subsidies 1 800 414 1 824 461 -24 047 -1,32
Leisure, sports and community life 404 700 315 700 89 000 28,19
Aquatic and youth 739 084 742 421 -3 337 -0,45
Library, arts and culture 146 093 82 842 63 251 76,35
Interest and penalties 358 000 382 281 -24 281 -6,35
Sale of assets 100 000 100 000 0 0
Rentals 141 600 133 500 8 100 6,07
Others 814 433 1 639 799 -825 366 -50,33
Total 61 533 289 58 875 213 2 658 076 4,51

Distribution of expenditures

  • City Council: Increase attributable mainly to the webcasting of the Council meetings.
  • Grants to organizations and partners: Complete review of this budgetary envelope by City Council (under way).
  • City Manager’s Office: Transfer of the budget to the various divisions.
  • Human Resources and Communications: Increase attributable mainly to professional honoraria and the employee training budget.
  • City Clerk and Procurement: Increase attributable mainly to professional honoraria and insurance.
  • Finance Office and IT: Increase attributable mainly to the significant increase in costs during renewal of IT contracts.
  • Engineering, Urban Planning and Environment: Engineering service charges no longer fully capitalized, decrease in garbage collection for multi-unit dwellings, but implementation of organic waste collection for these buildings and for industrial, commercial and institutional buildings and increase for urban forestry, including $100,000 for tree planting funded by the increase in fees charged for filling swimming pools.
  • Public Works: Increase for snow removal to take into account costs related to overnight street parking for winter and fall 2022 and increase for building maintenance to take into account the return to a normal activity level and the opening of the arena year-round.
  • Culture and Recreation: Increase at the administrative level for the application of health measures, increase for the library to take into account the extension of opening hours and increase for arts and culture to cover the organization of activities and take into account the Entente de développement culturel 2021-2023.
  • Employer contributions: Decrease attributable mainly to the pension plan following the good return on the pension fund.
  • Progressive cash payment program: Increase of $250,000/year until an amount of $4,000,000 is reached.
  • Debt service: Decrease related to the fact that there was no new borrowing in 2021 since the money for certain projects now completed was borrowed in advance in 2020. Also, the debts were refinanced at a favourable rate.

2022 budget in $ 2021 budget 2021 in $ Difference in $ Difference in %
City council 386 782 345 402 41 380 11,98
Grants to organizations and partnerships 105 000 600 000 -495 000 -82,5
City Management 325 926 368 604 -42 678 -11,58
Human resources and communications 1 037 310 923 535 113 775 12,32
City Clerk and procurement 1 526 183 1 353 046 173 137 12,80
Finance and IT 1 966 546 1 572 986 393 560 25,02
Engineering, urban planning and environment 3 629 381 2 982 218 647 163 21,7
Public works 9 302 842 8 644 551 658 291 7,62
Culture et recreation 3 946 439 3 630 946 315 493 8,69
Employer contributions 2 990 495 3 088 814 -98 319 -3,18
Progressive cash payment 3 500 000 3 250 000 250 000 7,69
Debt service 6 838 497 7 514 168 -675 671 -8,99
Shares- Agglomération de Longueuil 25 337 980 23 964 083 1 373 897 5,73
Shares - Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal 639 908 636 860 3 048 0,48
Total 61 533 289 58 875 213 2 658 076 4,51

Financial reports

Four times a year—in March, June, September and December—in the spirit of openness and accountability towards its citizens, the City prepares reports on its financial statements. These reports are presented and explained during public city council meetings. For the December report, please refer to the annual financial statements (below).

In accordance with the Cities and Towns Act, Mayor Pierre Brodeur presented the highlights of the 2020 financial report and of the report from the external auditor at the meeting of June 14, 2021:

“First, I wish to point out that the external auditor issued an unqualified audit opinion on the city’s 2020 financial report and on the effective aggregate taxation rate for 2020, which was $1.0153 per $100 of assessment.

The operating surplus for tax purposes stood at $2,569,036 as at December 31, 2020. This large surplus, despite the pandemic context, derived mainly from property transfer taxes, which were higher than expected (+$2.7M) and from non-recurring financial assistance for COVID-19 in the amount of $2,545,041 for fiscal 2020 and 2021, which had to be fully reported on in 2020 in accordance with accounting standards.

As a large surplus was anticipated, we took concrete actions to benefit residents by passing on a property tax bill savings for the years ahead. The working fund was thus reimbursed in advance (-$3.3M), representing an average annual savings of nearly $300,00 for the next 10 years.

The gross debt increased by nearly $11M, up from $88,196,000 to $99,326,000, mainly for the funding of the Riverside Street project. However, the net debt was $73,560,510, given that $25,765,490 was subsidized by the Quebec government.

As at December 31, 2020, the city had an unallocated operating surplus of $3,222,184, as well as an allocated operating surplus of $1,085,662. The city’s financial reserve and reserve fund totalled $4,769,503.

In conclusion, despite the pandemic context, the Ville de Saint-Lambert succeeded in maintaining its financial position. However, budgetary issues remain for the years ahead, as the tax share imposed on our city by the Agglomération de Longueuil continues to exert increasing pressure on the municipality’s finances. Major challenges also await the city, including some concerning municipal buildings.”

Every year, the Ville de Saint-Lambert prepares a financial report on its fiscal year, which runs from January 1 to December 31. It is tabled at a public meeting of city council as soon as the audit work has been completed.

This report presents financial details pertaining to the municipality’s operations, including the following:

  • assets
  • liabilities
  • revenues
  • operating expenses
  • expenditures and revenues related to capital acquisitions.

The financial report must comply with the standards of the Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l’Occupation du territoire (MAMOT) governing the presentation of municipal financial statements.

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