We’re at the ‘breaking point’: Parti Laval; Tax hike is inflation times two: Action Laval

While at least one of Laval city council’s two opposition parties gave an unqualified thumbs-down to the latest annual budget tabled by the Boyer administration, the “official” opposition Parti Laval was more reserved earlier this week when asked by the Laval News for a reaction to the city’s 2026 budget.

“Paying more taxes for fewer services,” is how Parti Laval leader Claude Larochelle (formerly the councillor for Fabreville) summed up the party’s reaction. “That’s what awaits Laval residents in the coming years,” he said.

At the breaking point

“Laval has reached its breaking point,” he continued. “We aren’t investing enough money in our underground sewer and water infrastructure, there’s no real program to help citizens protect themselves against climate events, we’re cutting important services, but are we raising taxes?

“I said it at the beginning of the year, this is Stéphane Boyer’s legacy: the debt is exploding, the financial reserves are depleted. Families will have to pay the price,” he added.

« Since 2021, we have maintained the illusion of the city’s financial capacity by depleting reserves, increasing debt and ignoring problems,” said Parti Laval city councillor for Marc-Aurèle-Fortin Louise Lortie.

“The Boyer administration misled the public with numerous promises. The mayor prioritized his mega-projects. Now, citizens are faced with tax increases and dwindling services. Unfortunately, this was predictable and could have been avoided.”

Costly projects criticized

Action Laval, which won two seats in the November municipal elections but holds the status of a second and unofficial opposition, responded to the well over one-billion-dollar budget with accusations of overspending and poor planning by the Mouvement lavallois administration led by Mayor Stéphane Boyer.

The party is more specific than the Parti Laval in its criticism of the 2026 budget, targeting such areas as the construction of the new municipal library system’s downtown headquarters, the ongoing renovation of City Hall on Souvenir Blvd., and the construction of a new municipal court building next to City Hall.

Before that, however, Action Laval noted that the 4.3 per cent overall property tax hike on single-family residences in the 2026 budget (compared to 1.9 per cent last year) is not in keeping with a claim Mayor Boyer had made to keep the increase in line with the prevailing rate of inflation.

Tax hike exceeds inflation

“His budget is 4.3 per cent and the inflation rate is 2.1 per cent,” said longtime Action Laval city councillor for Saint-Bruno David De Cotis. “So, it’s double the inflation rate. This is directly related to his mismanagement of the city’s funds.”

Regarding the library (La grande Bibliothèque) project, De Cotis said the $180 million cost to taxpayers was never fully justified as the Boyer administration failed to reveal to opposition party members the detailed costs of the project.

“There were no business studies,” he maintained. “All they said was ‘trust us, we know what the people want.’” De Cotis also maintained that in a poll conducted outside the Montmorency Metro last year, the vast majority of the respondents had no idea the central library building was going to be built.

Library project under fire

Furthermore, he claimed that most Laval residents would have preferred to have more library branches in districts rather than a comprehensive central location. “Either you build new ones or you renovate existing ones,” De Cotis suggested.

“The fact that you’re spending $180 million just for construction, plus another $5 – $7 million just for maintenance, this has a direct impact on the budget. If you compare budgets 2025 and 2026, the budget has increased by almost $100 million.”

Noting that the city is moving to cut back garbage and recycling collections to once every two weeks, De Cotis said “we’re removing services, increasing taxes,” while building infrastructures “that nobody is asking for. Nobody asked them to build a library at a cost of $180 million. That’s why we’re seeing this bad mismanagement of public funds.”

Inflated City Hall renovation costs

Regarding the City Hall renovation project, De Cotis pointed out that it was originally estimated at a little more than $20 million, but has now reached more than $70 million. “That is insane – that is mismanagement of public funds,” he said.

“That is laughing at the citizens of Laval, saying, ‘we’re just going to raise taxes, but we don’t care how much we spend.’ At $70 million, they’re turning this into a luxury hotel – that’s what it is – for the mayor of Laval and the city councillors. When it’s public funds, you’re supposed to be modest in the way that you spend. He’s doing the opposite.”

In the meantime, the City of Laval is in the midst of building a new municipal courthouse right next to City Hall at a cost of $45.5 million. While cost overruns are a common occurrence in public construction projects, De Cotis insists that “no one is managing the costs of construction” and “there is no accountability.”