Plateau Mont-Royal borough mayor Luc Ferrandez says it was an "amateurish" thing to do for his Projet Montreal party to promise to hold tax increases to the rate of inflation during the Nov. 5 election campaign.
Ferrandez gave an interview to 98.5 FM Wednesday morning to respond to a poll showing nearly 6 in 10 Montrealers were dissatisfied with the performance of the Plante administration.
"When it comes to taxes, it's a curveball. It was a mistake on our part, we should never have promised that in an election campaign. It was amateurish," said Ferrandez.
Part of the criticism of the Plante administration came from the introduction of its 2018 city budget, which raised property taxes and water taxes by an average of 3.3 percent — well above the rate of inflation. Plante defended the hikes, suggesting a shortfall left over by the Coderre administration was the reason the hikes were necessary.
Plante spoke with Ferrandez after making the comments, and says they agreed that Ferrandez should have chosen his words better.
Plante, meanwhile, also responded to the poll numbers, suggesting the transition process from opposition to power is still happening, and the best of her administration is yet to come.
"Let's not forget that the transition is still happening. Today during the Executive Committee meeting we're still voting for projects that were put together by the previous administration, so I'm still dealing with those things, so there's a balance to find in between," said Plante. "The more we go into the mandate the more I will be able to show Montrealers the projects of Projet Montreal and projects of our administration."