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The City of Two Mountains has decided not to enter into an agreement this year with the City of Saint-Eustache on the use of the neighbouring municipality’s new aquatic centre. According to a statement issued by Two Mountains on Wednesday, “the decision was based on the fiscal reality … namely the fact that the costs incurred by such an agreement are too high.”
Added tax
Two Mountains taxpayers would have had to pay $333,000 annually to enjoy the same rates as their counterparts in St-Eustache, said the administration, and that would have amounted to an additional $50-per-street-address tax. Potential users would then also have had to shoulder the regular registration fees for aquatic centre activities.
“As much as we’d like our citizens to enjoy the many benefits of the Saint-Eustache water park, we ruled that it would be unwise to sign an agreement under the terms currently proposed by our neighbour,” said Mayor Marc Lauzon. “In the current context, the city cannot ask taxpayers to shell out even more to subsidize the 1,000 to 1,500 residents — according to preliminary estimates — who would avail themselves of this new service.”
Exploring options
However, the mayor suggested that Two Mountains would conduct a phone survey to gauge public interest in the service in order to find out exactly where residents stand. Given the high financial stakes, he added, Two Mountains would first like all taxpayers to agree to a formula that would meet the needs of as many people as possible. At the same time, he said, the city continues to explore other options that could prove “interesting” in the near future.
Opposition reaction
Reacting to the announcement, former Two Mountains mayoralty candidate Robert Landry said he approved of the administration’s move in view of the city’s precarious finances. “I think the mayor in place is doing the right thing. The fact that he’s looking at cutting down on expenses, I do approve of that.” At the same time, Landry noted that the opposition at city hall has been trying in vain to get more detailed information about Two Mountans finances, without which he could not make detailed comments.
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