NEWS & ANALYSIS

More money for STM, less for homeowners

By Dan Delmar The Suburban The city of Montreal is blaming a decrease in revenues during the recession for the fact that Montreal homeowners will be seeing an average property tax increase of over five percent. Expenses have been cut by $100 million per year for the last three years. Much of the cuts have come at the expense of the workforce, which has been reduced through attrition. There are nearly 1,200 fewer employees working for the city now than in 2006. ?Revenues fell off the cliff,? said Alan DeSousa, the executive committee?s vicechairman, who presented the $4.3 billion

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Cont?d from page 1 borough?s more prolific ?taggers,? Kachur?s final tag, as yet incomplete, can still be seen in the park near the spot where police believe he was killed. While the police have a good idea about what the boys were doing in the area, it also proves Brian was still alive at 3:15 on the Sunday morning previous to the time when he was murdered in the park near the intersection of Desmarchais Street and LaSalle INFORMATION SESSION : February 9, 2010 7:00 pm Duration: 1 course a week for 13 weeks Hours: from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Namur budget. ?We?re not impervious to the impact of global trends. Economists can say that the recession is over, but are we back to where we were? No. It?s not going to happen overnight.? Despite the need to increase property taxes, the city is continuing to make record investments in public transit. Over $42 million more will be given to the STM this year, bringing the city?s contribution for 2010 to nearly $400 million. The city is banking on an increased ridership that may result from improvements to Métro cars and buses, and increased frequency. Another big ?if? is whether or not the Quebec government will make a major investment in public transit. If they don?t, the STM will face a crippling $363 million Blvd. The police have very little to say about the ongoing homicide investigation, but the SPVM?s major crimes unit did mention they would appreciate a call if anyone recognizes any of the three people in the picture who are walking to the right of Brian Kachur. Should anyone have any information about any of these individuals, please call INFO CRIME: 514-393-1133 or Sergent Detective Mario Desmarais 514-280-2061. n

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Certification program offered in collaboration with the Canadian Payroll Association Information: 514-733-3232, ext. 14 payroll@collegemv.qc.ca | www.collegemv.qc.ca/fc deficit by 2018. ?This is us putting our money where our mouth is,? added DeSousa, saying the investment is in response to a request from the provincial government to improve and expand public transit. ?We?re hopeful that, in the next provincial budget, the government will consider providing more funding for mass transit.? DeSousa said he hopes the Charest government will find the money from a possible gas tax, perhaps even from toll roads, although he would not prefer the latter. A tax on commercial parking lots downtown will add an estimated $20 million to city coffers for transit. Business owners are also facing another hurdle: Their tax bills will rise an average of six percent. The other increase in ?green? spending comes in the form of another 60 km of new bike paths in 2010 alone. The investment in sustainable transport may come at the expense of infrastructure work. Four hundred million dollars less will be spent this year on capital expenses, like road and water main work. DeSousa describes the lack of investment in infrastructure as a ?strategic pause,? and noted that urgent repair work will go ahead, as will projects that are funded by other levels of government. Michael Applebaum, the executive committee member in charge of citizen services, told The Suburban that ?the citizens are not going to see a reduction in services.? n THE SUBURBAN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2010 ? 9

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