Demerged mayors snub agglomeration council

The mayors of Montreal's demerged suburbs say they're boycotting future agglomeration council meetings until the province intervenes to give them more decision-making power.

On Thursday, the mayors walked out of a special agglomeration meeting about the Montreal budget, and vowed to skip out on any other meetings until Quebec reviews the agglomeration council's function.

Thecouncil, which manages shared municipal services across the island, includes Montreal city councillors and demerged city boroughs.

Demerged city boroughs have long complained they have no voice on the council, and now that Montreal has tabled its 2007 budget, they say they're fed up.

"We need to be heard. We've done this for a year, we've really played the good soldiers, we've participated, now we honestly can say with all the efforts we've put in, it doesn't work!" said Karin Marks, the mayor of Westmount.

The mayors are upset with Montreal's 2007 budget, which they say unfairly burdens suburban homeowners with property tax increases.

The mayors are accusing Montreal Mayor Grald Tremblay of tinkering with the tax rates to make suburban residents pay more than they should.

While property taxes are rising for three-quarters of homeowners in Montreal, suburbs should have got a break becausetheir property values are climbing more slowly, the mayors said.

The latest valuation rolls showed residential property values in most suburbs increased slightly, but not as much as in Montreal's southwest and northern districts.

13% vs. 87%

If demerged cities had stronger representation on the agglomeration council, they could fight the budget, they said. But the council votes according to population representation, and demerged cities only count for about 13 per cent of the vote.

The mayors say they'll continue to lobby the province to review the agglomeration structure. But the head of the council doubts it will make any difference.

"The rules are clear. The government clearly stated that the agglomeration council would be governed by representation. The city of Montreal accounts for 87 per cent. I think they're uncomfortable with this, but these were the rules of the game," said Frank Zampino.

A spokesman for the Quebec minister of municipal affairs, Nathalie Normandeau, said the province is already reviewing the demerged cities' request for review.