Among the main municipalities which revealed their increase, a good portion are below the 3% mark.
For example, Magog and Lac-Mégantic had confirmed increases of 2.9% in recent weeks when submitting their respective budgets.
The municipalities of Coaticook (2.37%), Val-des-Sources (2.1%), Windsor (2.79%) and Ascot Corner (2%) are also below 3%. Cookshire-Eaton (3.15%), Danville (3.5%), East Angus (3.29%) and Stoke (3.29%) are slightly above this line.
The various 2025 budgets were complicated for several municipal councils while a good part of the municipalities from the MRCs of Memphrémagog, Coaticook, Granit and Val-Saint-François had to deal with a new high property role.
This was also the case for Danville (62%) and East Angus (43.9% for residential) which experienced significant increases in property values.
Cookshire-Eaton is among the towns with increases around 3%. (Maxime Picard/Archives La Tribune)
“We had to make difficult choices when faced with the submission of the new assessment role to reduce the impact on citizens,” notes the mayor of Coaticook, Simon Madore, in a press release about his budget.
“We consider that having contained the financial impact, 1.6% for the land value and in total with pricing, 2.37% despite the inflationary context that we are experiencing demonstrates good, tight management of our operations »
— Simon Madore, mayor of Coaticook
“We worked with our taxpayers in mind first,” wrote the mayor of Val-des-Sources, Hughes Grimard, in his city’s documentation. Preparing a budget is always a balancing act between the financial needs of the municipality to meet the expectations of citizens and the latter’s ability to pay.
“Each budget decision reflects our bold but realistic vision and our desire to build a quality living environment for today and tomorrow,” indicates, for her part, the Mayor of Windsor, Sylvie Bureau, in a press release. .
Compton particularly affected
Elsewhere in Estrie, citizens’ tax bills exceed 4% in several cities.
This is the case in Orford where the increase varies from 4.24% to 6.65% in 2025. Saint-Denis-de-Brompton (5.9%) and Richmond (5.7% for property tax) reach almost 6% while Eastman is at around 5%.
Increases in tax bills in Val-Saint-François vary greatly from municipality to municipality.
(Maxime Picard/Archives La Tribune)
However, it is Compton which announces the largest increase among the budgets consulted. Compton residents will have average increases of 8.95% for average houses with services, even going up to 13.20% for those without services.
The mayor of Compton, Jean-Pierre Charuest, stated in his budget presentation on December 10 that he did not want to cut services. “We didn’t want to do that.”
“In general, we have suffered cost increases. […] Recurring expenses have increased significantly,” he also indicates.
Compton had significantly increased the tax bill from 10 to 12% during the 2023 budget, citing that the Municipality had to catch up. (Maxime Picard/Archives La Tribune)
Even though Compton lowered its assessment rate per $100 to lessen the impact on the tax bill, the increases “in some areas” remained “very high.”
“In the first versions of the budget, the increases were quite steep. We asked the municipal administration to do an additional exercise to tighten things up.”
— Jean-Pierre Charuest, mayor of Compton
The Municipality also took the opportunity to reiterate in its budget Compton’s intention to move forward with the construction of the new barracks.
When the Municipal Infrastructure Improvement and Construction Program (PRACIM) makes a new provincial envelope available in 2025, Mr. Charuest anticipates that Compton will obtain the grant.
This project, postponed during the fall, was contested by certain citizens who judged that the community could not afford a barracks costing six to seven million. “If there is no subsidy, [le projet] will not be achieved,” notes the mayor during the meeting.
With information from Ariane Aubert Bonn
