Collection of property tax | A costly change for Saint-Hubert airport

The operator of MET – Montreal Metropolitan Airport, in Saint-Hubert, had to turn to the courts to avoid a potential situation of failure due to changes desired by Longueuil in terms of property tax collection. Without the reprieve obtained, the sum to be paid would have been more than 5 million.

Development of Saint-Hubert de Longueuil Airport (DASH-L) won its case before the Superior Court of Quebec earlier this year. The court considers that the “stability of municipal finances will not be affected in any way” by such a stay – until the case is debated on its merits.

It is the way of collecting property tax from the tenants – airlines, specialized carriers and training establishments – of this airport located on the South Shore which is at the origin of the dispute.

Essentially, Longueuil wanted to collect the amount directly from the non-profit organization rather than soliciting each of the many tenants on the site.

“The bill promises to be steep for DASH-L,” underlines judge Andres Garin, in his 15-page decision.

For what ? Suddenly, the manager and operator of the place found himself responsible for “the entirety of applicable property taxes (…) retroactively since 2022”, we explain in the judgment. In other words, DASH-L had to pay the amount to the municipality and then claim it from its tenants.

The non-profit organization says the bill was more than $5 million and that it did not have that amount in its coffers.

“In the absence of liquidity, in the short term, DASH-L risks finding itself in default of payment of its property taxes,” observes the magistrate. Such a default would jeopardize DASH-L’s relations with its business partners. »

Untenable

Judge Garin recognizes that the airport would have found itself in a delicate position in a context where the construction of a new terminal which must be able to accommodate 4 million passengers annually is underway.

In his opinion, this project could have ended up in “peril”.

“Who would invest or finance a 200 million project with a developer who has failed to pay his municipal taxes? writes the magistrate. To ask the question, is to answer it. In short, a defect will clearly have very serious consequences for DASH-L. »

Since the manager of MET – Montréal Metropolitan Airport has undertaken to assume the approximately $313,000 which represents interest costs related to property taxes, the Superior Court considers that Longueuil will “not suffer any economic harm” by granting a six-month reprieve in this case.

The airport manager and operator does not oppose the changes proposed by Longueuil “in substance,” underlines its vice-president of corporate affairs, Simon-Pierre Diamond, in a statement.

“This is a misunderstanding of procedures and means,” he wrote. I’m pretty sure everything will be sorted out shortly. »

In a statement, the City of Longueuil emphasized that it had “complied” with the order of February 13, adding that lawyers “from both parties are continuing discussions in the matter.”

In the southern suburbs of the metropolis, Porter Airlines is to be the main user of the passenger terminal currently under construction. It is due to welcome its first passengers in the summer of 2025. There will be nine boarding gates. The capacity of the complex will be 4 million passengers, but this annual volume should not be expected from the start of activities.

With the collaboration of Philippe Teisceira-Lessard, The Press