2023-04-27 18:51:25
Motorists in the suburbs of Montreal will have a new registration tax of $59 to pay starting in 2024 to fund public transit.
Any “passenger vehicle” registered in Greater Montreal and Saint-Jérôme will be subject to this new tax, the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM) announced on Thursday.
The tax was to be voted in 2019, but computer problems prevented the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) from implementing it, reported “La Presse”.
Montrealers have already been paying this contribution since 2011. However, it will increase from $45 to $59.
“Indexed annually according to the consumer price index, this tax will thus make it possible to collect more than $125 million each year to finance public transit in Greater Montreal,” the CMM specified in a press release.
According to the organization, the “measure is more relevant than ever” due to the drop in ridership in public transit since the pandemic.
It would serve in particular to diversify the sources of revenue paid to the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM), which currently has a deficit of $500 million.
A rise in costs is also expected in the coming years with the commissioning of the Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM) in a few weeks and the work to extend the blue line.
According to the CMM, spending on public transit will increase from $3.2 billion in 2019 to $5.7 billion in 2028.
Currently, Montreal is the only region to collect this tax, but that could change. The Communauté métropolitaine de Québec is also studying the possibility of levying an additional tax in the Québec region and in Lévis.
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