The measure was not directly addressed on the agenda, but slipped into the discussions surrounding the financial directions to be given to prepare the 2025 budget.
As maintaining an average tax increase of 3% was still on the table, which was achieved in 2024 in particular due to the contribution of the swimming pool tax, independent elected officials stood up against these guidelines.
An amendment proposed by Councilor Nancy Robichaud to repeal the tax in 2025 was adopted by a narrow majority. Once again, all the independents voted on one side, and all the elected officials of Sherbrooke Citoyen on the other, except the president of the council Raïs Kibonge, who abstained.
Danielle Berthold (Maxime Picard/Archives La Tribune)
The last time the terms of the tax were approved by council, the vote of Councilor Danielle Berthold made the difference. However, she resigned from the executive committee that same evening and lost her position as board president shortly after.
Prelude to repeal
Earlier Tuesday in public plenary, independents wondered whether their opposition to the swimming pool tax should motivate dissent on this issue. Planning to vote in favor and then propose modifications, Councilor Hélène Dauphinais clearly asked Mayor Évelyne Beaudin if it was “all or nothing” for Tuesday evening’s vote.
“Our teams need clear messages,” the mayor then responded, inviting her colleagues to oppose it now if they had any objection to the swimming pool tax.
Councilor Paul Gingues very openly stated that this was the only downside to the program. “Everything else suits me,” he commented.
His colleague Annie Godbout made a premonitory comment. “If we vote on the abolition of the swimming pool tax, I think it will pass,” she said in the afternoon.
Rais Kibonge (Maxime Picard/Archives La Tribune)
The sequel proved him right. The indicative vote, seven to seven [en raison de l’absence temporaire de Marc Denault]convinced President Raïs Kibonge to withdraw the file to let the administration review the orientations.
Later in the evening, however, the independents rejected by vote the withdrawal of the item from the agenda. On the executive, councilor Fernanda Luz called on her colleagues to “give services time to return” with adjustments, as calculations cannot be made immediately.
The direction to maintain the increase in the tax bill at 3% has also been withdrawn, and we are currently unaware of the impact of the requested abolition of the swimming pool tax.
Rescue attempts
Seeing the way the discussions were going, councilor Geneviève La Roche asked if her colleagues really wanted to “throw everything in the trash” about the swimming pool tax, or rather work to make it more equitable.
Councilor Laure Letarte-Lavoie warned against a “step back” which risked sowing confusion on the directions given by the council and proposed a formal amendment to try to “modulate” the tax instead of abolishing it. His proposal was rejected.
Mayor Évelyne Beaudin even tried, also without success, to offer a compromise to exempt owners of swimming pools connected to their artesian well from the tax and to concentrate on taxing water consumption.
“Nevertheless, I am against the installation of water meters at the residential level, personally. Economic studies show that this does not achieve the objective of reducing water use,” she shared.
For 2025, she says she is now looking for another way to “save tenants”, which was an objective of the swimming pool tax.
Among the other financial guidelines given on Tuesday, we find several more consensual actions intended to ensure that the next budget holds up and that financial viability is ensured in the longer term. Some of these guidelines date back a few financial years.
We are talking, among other things, about maintaining maximum debt ratio targets, reducing dependence on profits from cryptocurrency, using fixed assets paid for in cash, reducing additional financing requests during the year or the continued creation of an infrastructure reserve.
