Your new tax bill may sting, but not like in years past

The new administration of Valrie Plantewarnedthere would be "a lot of pain" along with a balanced budget for 2018, and with the new tax hike announced this week, theydelivered.

The average property tax for Montreal homeowners is going up by 3.3 per cent, which is more than the projected rate of inflation.

Some boroughs will pay more than others. In RosemontLa Petite-Patrie, residentialtaxes are increasing 5.6 per cent, and inVilleraySaint-MichelParc-Extension, 5.4.

While these numbers seem big compared to recent years, they are quitepaltry if you go further back.

Example: in 2011, some tax hikes were nearly double the rate of this year.

Homeowners in thePlateau-Mont-Royalhad to pay 6.8 per cent more than in 2010, and business owners 7.8 per cent more.Not to be outdone, the Southwest saw an increase of7.3 per cent and Lachine 6 per cent.

Then-mayor Grald Tremblaysaid at the timethe tax increases were necessary to compensate for the city's floundering economy, along with the rising cost ofpublic transit, policeandfire services, and water infrastructure.

"The challenge that we have in the days to come is to convince our citizens that their money will be properly invested to improve the quality of life, and most of that money will be invested in public transit," Tremblay said in 2011.

Every year since, the average tax rate has increased, but at lower increments. In some boroughs, like LaSalle and Anjou, residential taxes went down some years.

The chart below shows the tax increases for each of the 19 boroughs between 2011 and 2018.

More coverage of the 2018 budget: