Gatineau council budgetary discussions

Following four days of discussion, Gatineau municipal council approved the proposed municipal budget for 2021 – the last budget exercise for this council. Held virtually from November 9 to 12, the budget discussion covered numerous important topics affecting Aylmer, and the city at large.

Notably, those subjects included the pandemic’s impact on municipal finances, an increase to municipal taxes to avoid future financial ramifications, and a project to build Aylmer’s own ecocentre.

--Pandemic’s economic impact

In April, it was noted that the pandemic would cost the city approximately $12.9 million in 2020, and $3.4 million in 2021. After being reviewed in September, numbers were increased to $17 million for 2020, and $9.6 million for 2021 – notably because the pandemic has lasted longer than the city expected.

However, the provincial government has agreed to dedicate up to $29.3 million towards Gatineau’s losses associated to COVID-19. The Mayor said the city intends to use the funding to submit a balanced budget with no COVID-19 impacts in 2021.

--Tax upgrade

Council proposed to raise property taxes by 2.1 per cent in 2021, including 0.5 per cent dedicated to financing future infrastructure projects. Noting that the city is already considerably behind on these projects, Lucerne district councillor Gilles Chagnon said the city had no choice but to raise taxes to avoid losing $11.3 million in expected revenue in future years.

A substantial loss of tax revenue would likely result in reductions in municipal services, which is not desirable for anyone, Chagnon said, pointing out that the city needs a balanced budget. Associating the increase with a general rise in the cost of living, Plateau councillor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette said a tax freeze would save citizens only about $5 per month, while the repercussions would be much more significant for the City.

--Ecocentres

To optimize municipal waste management services, Council approved the building of an ecocentre in the city’s west end (Aylmer), and a one-year pilot project involving mobile ecocentres in two parts of the city that don’t have ecocentres.

The pilot project would include two special collection events per year in Aylmer and Masson-Angers respectively, and is expected to cost approximately $152,000. A review of the project should be presented during next year’s budgetary discussions. Estimated to cost $7.19 million to build and finance Aylmer’s ecocentre, the plan was initially approved during last year’s budgetary discussions.

The city has identified the following four possible locations for the ecocentre: 1313 chemin Pink, Marigot Park, Atholl-Doune Park, and an unnamed lot on chemin Vanier. Its next step is evaluating the chemin Pink location’s viability. Already underway, it should be completed by the end of the year.

Having championed it since the start of his mandate, Chagnon said the ecocentre should help to more adequately provide a highly used service for Aylmerites while improving waste management practices. “People want services nearby,” Chagnon told the Bulletin. He also supported the pilot project for mobile ecocentres, even proposing to make the Aylmer events last two days instead of one, due to their popularity.

Plateau district councillor and CDTHE President Maude Marquis-Bissonnette praised the plan, noting an evident demand for the service, and also promoted 1313 chemin Pink as the ideal site for Aylmer’s ecocentre, due to easability of access and because it’s an industrial area.  She also strongly opposed to considering Marigot Park as a potential possibility because it boasts green corridors and important wetlands. She encouraged the idea of implementing mobile ecocentres, considering growing demand for them.

The budget also proposed to change the number of operating hours at the Hull ecocentre from 18 hours per week during the winter to 31 per week year-round, and to increase the number of hours at the Écocentre de l’Aéroparc in Gatineau to 56 hours per week during the summer, compared to 52 weekly; while reducing its hours from 56 per week to 44 during the winter.

The adjustments expect to cost approximately $180,000 to hire new managers and foremen.

--Notable councillors’ requests

According to Chagnon, the budget includes plans to invest in improving roads and reducing speed limits in targetted areas. Among other things, Chagnon asked the city to finance illuminated pedestrian crosswalks along boulevard Wilfrid-Lavigne, more police speeding radars, and a bike path going down rue Samuel-Edey to facilitate access to the new school (040) being built in the area. Chagnon expects the bike path to be completed sometime in 2021 or 2022, as part of the Plan directeur vélo.

Marquis-Bissonnette requested the renovation of part of rue de Bruxelles into a complete street, and the revitalization and urbanization of chemin Vanier between boulevard des Allumetières and chemin Pink. Requiring environmental studies beforehand, this would involve the addition of sidewalks and connections to cycling infrastructure.

Aylmer district councillor Audrey Bureau notably requested a linear park going along the town’s old railroad line, and financing of the Plan directeur du Parc des Cèdres.

Deschênes district councillor Mike Duggan requested that the city build sidewalks in different parts of the district, and that boulevard de Lucerne from chemin Vanier to avenue Frank-Robinson be repaved in 2021.

--Improving streets and ditches

Council voted in favour of investing $24 million, from its funds accumulated from the municipal dedicated tax, to fix ditches and repave roads, and to apply to the federal and provincial governments for more support for this work.  

--Over-sized waste disposal

The city proposed a $779,000 investment to maintain the number of bulky waste collections at eight per year, instead of reducing them to four. It also proposed to change the definition of bulky waste accepted at ecocentres to identify it as household waste.

Marquis-Bissonnette said she’s in favour of the recommendations due to the high level of use for the service and looks forward to seeing how the system can be implemented in local ecocentres to eventually bring back the number of collections to four per year.

Bureau proposed the city implement a patrol unit – suggesting Dérichebourg – to notify residents when and why certain items are picked up during a special collection cycle to give residents a better understanding of how the system works.

--Plateau farmers’ market

The new budget proposed to provide the Plateau Public Market with annual budgets of $25,000 for 2021 and 2022.

Supported by Marquis-Bissonnette, in a proposal to finance its first three years, Director of the Service de l’Urbanisme et du développement durable (SUDD) Mathieu Bélanger said the Plateau Public Market certainly lived up to its expectations and needed more funding. Bélanger explained that the market benefits considerably from young families in a growing district with numerous big projects on the way, including the AGORA project.

For the Old Aylmer and Old Hull markets, the city has a five-year financing plan of $25,000 each year from 2018 to 2022 to operate 18 to 20 times per summer.

--Public consultation office

Hull-Wright district councillor and Executive committee President Cédric Tessier recommended allocating an $800,000 annual investment to implement an independent public consultation office.

Along with a $125,000 adjustment to the budget in 2020 and a $125,000 increase to the budget in 2021, the hope is to launch the project in the winter of 2022. It is also proposed to modify the city’s charter to allow the city to create an independent entity by using an omnibus bill.

However, council decided to further study the project before allocating money into it. Not a huge fan of the concept, Duggan said he’s concerned about how the public consultation office would be used. While he’s not against the idea, he believes its true role and definition will need some fine-tuning.

--Homelessness in Gatineau

Council invested approximately $689,000 -- $231,000 for 2021, $251,500 for 2022 and $206,500 for 2023 – to implement a three-year (2021-2023) action plan and a legal framework to address homelessness in the city.

Municipal council adopted the action plan and framework during its meeting in October.

--$100,000 to promote Gatineau City

The city accepted to allocate $100,000 to the Fonds de rayonnement, which is intended to subsidize activities and events that help shine light on Gatineau.

Established in 2019, the fund had a $100,000 budget for 2020. Out of that, approximately $41,000 was used, contributing $30,000 to the Scène nationale du son headlined by Aylmer’s Transistor Media. It also proposed to invest another $100,000 for the Fonds de rayonnement in 2021 and to submit an annual review of the program’s performance.

--Final budget tabling December 8

Proposing a $671 million budget, compared to $651 million last year, nine and a half per cent of municipal dollars will be allocated to the city’s debt service (0.4 per cent less than last year). It also includes financing for the Lucy-Faris Library project. Compared to other cities in the province, Gatineau has been very responsible in its management of municipal finances, especially during the pandemic, Duggan said.

Satisfied in how the discussions were resolved, Marquis-Bissonnette said she was happy with the budget since it adequately balanced rational spending and actions to accelerate economic growth.

Council President Daniel Champagne said Gatineau is one of the only cities in Québec that hosts its budgetary discussions in public.

The final version of the budget should be officially approved by municipal council during its meeting on December 8.