Petition ‘’against municipal tax hikes in Chateauguay’’

Two Chateauguay residents, Valeriu Oprea et Aloysius Oluoha, launched a petition on the internet ‘’against municipal tax increases in Chateauguay’’ addressed to the city’s elected officials. Translation Dan Rosenburg At the time these lines were written, 1,140 internet users had ‘’signed’’ on to  change.org. The petition is accompanied by an article in the Chateauguay Soleil dating back to the municipal election campaign of 2017 entitled ‘’Pierre-Paul Routhier wants to freeze taxes for everyone.’’ ‘’If we succeed in re-energizing the City as we wish to, we are going to do it because we have new revenues,’’ Routhier affirmed on October 25, 2017, according to the article in question. The citizens at the origin of the petition say they are ‘’outraged’’ and ‘’disappointed’’ with the increases in municipal taxes in 2020 in Chateauguay. They believe the tax hikes are ‘’unjustified’’ and ‘’exaggerated.’’ They consider that the neighbouring towns are offering more services for a lesser tax bill. Among other things, they rebuke the City Council for not having consulted the population before adopting the budget. Those who signed are asking for a revision of the tax dossier as well as some explanations about this. They are also asking for a reduction of expenses and for the council to find new sources of revenues. The City indicated on Wednesday that the Mayor was not in a position to comment, as he was out of town.  Several citizens of Chateauguay are being hit with significant tax raises in 2020 and a good number also have the right to freeze or a decrease. This is all because of the advent of a new municipal evaluation role. City spokeswoman Stéphanie Gosselin reminded that citizens can obtain more information about the new roll by signing up for the information meeting with Evimbec scheduled for Saturday, February 22.  Members of the revenue and evaluation departments are also available to answer citizens’ questions live at City Hall or by telephone at 450-698-3250. Routhier is also providing specifics on the tax bills in a video on the internet, Gosselin reminds. [caption id="attachment_75809" align="alignnone" width="779"] La pétition est accompagnée d’un article du Soleil de Châteauguay datant de la campagne électorale municipale 2017, titré «Pierre-Paul Routhier veut geler les taxes de tout le monde». «Si nous parvenons à redynamiser la Ville comme nous le souhaitons, on va le faire car nous aurons de nouveaux revenus», affirmait M. Routhier le 25 octobre 2017, selon l’article.[/caption]