The LaSalle property owner who complained about being charged for a non-existent apartment last month now believes he was double-billed him for water and garbage as well. Ioan Ruxanda now wants his money back, but so far no one from Montreal\u2019s tax department has returned his calls.<\/p>\n
Patricia Lowe, an agent with Montreal\u2019s communications department, assured us he was not charged twice.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Ruxanda is definitely not being billed twice,\u201d she wrote in emails prior to the holidays and again last Friday. \u201cHe does not need to worry on that account. The Finance department and the LaSalle borough have worked hard to correct the misunderstanding. Mr. Ruxanda is not being billed twice. He will not be billed for the non-existent apartment. The tax account has been corrected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lowe says that the employee from the tax department handling Ruxanda\u2019s file was on vacation last week, but will call him by the end of this week to explain everything.<\/p>\n
Ruxanda\u2019s problems come from begin among 2000 people who were identified as possible tax evaders in a basement survey last summer. He and several of the others got their letters in the fall; others will be billed in February as the operation continues.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the summer, inspectors looked at properties that might possibly house a basement apartment,\u201d explained Lowe. \u201cWhen they found what seemed to be an apartment, whether or not it had a civic address, a finance employee would call the owner for more information. If the information indicated that there was a bathroom and kitchen, or a kitchenette in the unit, only then was a letter sent out to the taxpayer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruxanda\u2019s letter arrived with two bills in a brown envelope that made the package look like a normal tax invoice. He could either pay $280 ($140 for his own home and another $140 for the basement apartment) or he could visit the borough of LaSalle and pay $5 to sign an affidavit.<\/p>\n
According to Salle communications officer Pierre Dupuis \u201csince the Service des Finances started this update operation in July, we have had around 350 owner-occupants come to the LaSalle borough hall service counter to fill in an affidavit, so as to get the exemption because they use the bachelor for their own purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruxanda did not have a basement appartment at all, so he searched for a way to remove the charge from his account permanently. The package contained no contact name, and though it did have an email address and a fax number, it had no phone number. A phone number within the contents was always busy and couldn\u2019t be identified by 311 operators.<\/p>\n
After many useless phone calls, Ruxanda complained directly to Mayor Manon Barbe at the borough council meeting. He also decided to pay the $140 tax to cover water and garbage services for his own home prior to the December 19 due date.<\/p>\n
A few days later, a borough inspector arrived to confirm that Ruxanda’s building does not have a third unit. When he asked why water and garbage taxes came in November when they\u2019re usually sent in April, the property owner started searching for his April invoices, which he eventually found. Now Ruxanda\u2019s waiting for an explanation.<\/p>\n
He doesn\u2019t think he\u2019s alone. \u201cIf I got the same $140 bill for water and garbage service in April and then again in November, the same thing probably happened to all those other people too,\u201d he said. \u201cNo one\u2019s taking responsibility to make sure citizens are treated fairly.\u201d<\/p>\n
A LaSalle resident attended the borough meeting on December 3 to complain that he received a tax bill for a basement apartment that doesn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for the gift of this extra number 1319A, but I don\u2019t have a basement apartment,\u201d said Ioan Ruxanda. \u201cMy taxes doubled. Who invented this situation?\u201d<\/p>\n
The situation stems from an administrative desire to find people with unofficial apartments, said Mayor Manon Barbe. Officials decided to hire inspectors\u2014some of whom were students\u2014to travel around various neighbourhoods and find them. \u201cWe\u2019re only discovering that this happened now as taxpayers like you complain,\u201d she said. \u201cYou just need to visit the borough and sign an affidavit confirming that you don\u2019t rent out a basement apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n
That message had already been explained to Ruxanda by borough officials, he said, but filling out that form would cost $5.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not paying $5 or anything else,\u201d said Ruxanda. \u201cI\u2019m not paying anything. This is your problem. You fix it. This extra $5 fee is just theft.\u201d<\/p>\n
The problem may already be fixed. When Montreal\u2019s finance department was contacted about the situation, they couldn\u2019t find any extra bill in the resident\u2019s property account. The only bill Montreal sent was in January 2012, and no basement apartment appears on that bill.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, at the borough level, officials compounded the resident\u2019s frustration first by telling him that fixing the error would cost him $5, then by refusing to let him speak to Manon Barbe to tell her about the problem personally.<\/p>\n
\u201cI voted for you,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve lived here for ten years and I always pay my taxes. I\u2019ve lived in Canada for thirty years. Who is this woman who won\u2019t let me speak to you? So I don\u2019t have a mayor; police officers assume that I\u2019m lying. Who\u2019s working for me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Note: This article appeared in the Suburban on Wednesday, December 19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The LaSalle property owner who complained about being charged for a non-existent apartment last month now believes he was double-billed him for water and garbage as well. Ioan Ruxanda now wants his money back, but so far no one from Montreal\u2019s tax department has returned his calls. Patricia Lowe, an agent with Montreal\u2019s communications department, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lasalleposts","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2buQs-lK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1495,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/taxpayer-gets-overpayment-back-with-interest\/","url_meta":{"origin":1348,"position":0},"title":"Taxpayer gets overpayment back with interest","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"February 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The LaSalle taxpayer who paid 2013 garbage and water taxes twice\u2014once in April and a second time in December\u2014has been fully refunded. He got a cheque from Montreal for the extra $140 he paid plus $1.95 interest. \u201cI\u2019m relieved that someone in Montreal\u2019s tax department has carefully done their job,\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LaSalle"","block_context":{"text":"LaSalle","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/lasalleposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"cheque","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/cheque.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1440,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/lasalle-basement-tax-survey\/","url_meta":{"origin":1348,"position":1},"title":"LaSalle Basement Tax Survey Continues in February","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"January 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"There\u2019s still confusion in LaSalle about what property owners are supposed to do when they get incorrect tax bills. The dilemma needs to be sorted out soon because the tax department will be sending out more notices next month. The confusion stems from the January LaSalle Borough council meeting, when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cultural Identity"","block_context":{"text":"Cultural Identity","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/cultural-identity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"LaSalleduplex","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/LaSalleduplex.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1365,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/lasalle-passes-2013-service-tax-rate\/","url_meta":{"origin":1348,"position":2},"title":"LaSalle Passes 2013 Service Tax Rate","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"December 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Property owners in LaSalle will be will be charged service taxes of 0.1149% on property values next year, in addition to borough taxes, water supply reserve taxes, investment taxes, a water-use fee and a waste-management fee. LaSalle set its rates on December 13 when two bylaws passed at the December\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LaSalle"","block_context":{"text":"LaSalle","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/lasalleposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3211,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/lasalle-and-verdun-budget-meetings-tonight\/","url_meta":{"origin":1348,"position":3},"title":"LaSalle and Verdun Budget Meetings Tonight","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"January 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The boroughs of LaSalle and Verdun will present their budgets and propose service taxes during extraordinary meetings of their councils set for tonight. Both boroughs must present their 2014 budgets and regulations imposing new taxes prior to adopting them. Presumably, both need them approved by Montreal\u2019s executive council before Montreal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LaSalle"","block_context":{"text":"LaSalle","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/lasalleposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1529,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/lasalle-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":1348,"position":4},"title":"Latest LaSalle News","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"October 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"LaSalle News municipal, transportation, tax, business, St. Lawrence, school, resident, people, councillor, park, real estate, heritage, garden, building, LaSalle, borough, Newman, Montreal View \"LaSalle News\" on Spundge","rel":"","context":"In "LaSalle"","block_context":{"text":"LaSalle","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/canada\/lasalleposts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16537,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/legion-pays-taxes\/","url_meta":{"origin":1348,"position":5},"title":"Legion buys a few months\u2019 peace","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"April 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, Joanne Proulx, Fred Jennings and Joseph Pugliese took a cheque for $52,880.80 to the LaSalle borough office. 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