The City of Montreal budget process completely avoids tackling the real problem

CITY OF WESTMOUNT, QC, Dec. 9 /CNW Telbec/ - Mayor Peter F. Trent of Westmount and Mayor Maria Tutino of Baie D'Urfé are no longer participating in  the committee currently examining the City of Montreal and Agglomeration budgets, a process which they characterized as "a waste of time." They arrived at this decision for the following reasons:

1. The same budget committee unanimously recommended guidelines for the preparation of both the City of Montreal and the Agglomeration 2011 budget. These guidelines called for a limit in spending growth in 2011 to the expected inflation rate plus 1%, or a total increase of 3.5%. In June, the City of Montreal formally adopted these guidelines. Yet the recent budget tabled by the City calls for an Agglomeration spending increase of 7%.
2. The total Montreal budget for 2011 calls for $277 million of increased spending, $223 million (or 80%) of which relate to the increase in employee salaries and benefits.  To make matters worse, when the City adopted the guidelines last June, it must have been known then that they were impossible to meet because of this one item. In fact, there is every indication of similar increases for 2012, mostly owing to another jump in pension fund liabilities.
3. It has been known for years, and once again confirmed by the Institut de la Statistique du Québec for 2010, that municipal employees earn, "all in," 30% more than the rest of their public sector counterparts. For the City of Montreal, the differential is even greater. The average employee will cost the City $103,000 in salary and benefits in 2011, up from $94,000 in 2010.

"We shall return to the budget committee if Mayor Tremblay commits to talks with the Quebec government leading to a reduction, over time, of employee salaries and benefits to levels that are more in keeping with the rest of the public sector in Quebec," said Peter F. Trent, mayor of Westmount. "With salaries and benefit increases driving the budget, and with no attempt so far to rein them in, the study of any other budget items will result in modest savings at best." "In my 5 years as a Commission member, and after submitting numerous suggestions, I have never seen a single number changed in the Agglomeration budget as a result, so what's the point of carrying on?" said Maria Tutino, mayor of Baie D'Urfé.

Contact:

Mayor's Office -  City of Westmount
Tel: [phone]

Mayor's Office - City of Baie D'Urfé
Tel: [phone]