Montreal defers property tax deadline to September!

Postponement necessary, says Coun. Benoit Dorais, but costs city $2B in lost revenue over summer months

Montreal businesses and homeowners now have until Sept. 1 to pay the second instalment of their property taxes.

The postponement, said Mayor Valérie Plante in a statement, was prompted by the continued economic slowdown in Montreal, the Canadian city with the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases — 25,652 cases, to date.

"It's also a way for us to support our small businesses that are struggling to get back on their feet in these difficult times," Plante said. 

This is the second time the city has pushed back the deadline. In March, it was extended by a month, from June 1 to July 2.

Businesses in Montreal with street entrances have been open since last week, after all but essential services were forced to close in mid-March to help contain the spread of COVID-19. 

Hairdressers, barbers, nail salons and other personal grooming services in the greater Montreal region and in Joliette, another coronavirus hot spot, will be allowed to reopen June 15.

City loses $2B over summer with postponement

Benoit Dorais, chair of the city's executive committee, said the postponement means the city will lose out on $2 billion in revenue over the next three months.

Lionel Perez, leader of the opposition Ensemble Montréal, says while he's happy the administration decided to postpone the deadline, the announcement comes a week too late. 

Ensemble Montréal presented a motion in council last week to extend the property tax deadline to Sept. 1. Perez says the proposal was rebuffed by Dorais who said it was impossible to defer the deadline for financial reasons. 

"We feel it is a complete about-face by the administration, and they owe answers to the population and frankly, to ourselves in council, as to what changed in one week," said Perez.