Stanstead 2020 budget adds up to four per cent tax ­increase

The Stanstead Town Council passed its 2020 budget at a special meeting on December 9. The result is a four per cent increase of taxes on average for property and services for households depending on services, Stanstead General Manager Jean-Charles Bellemare said in an interview Thursday. The total $4,566,694 budget is about $373,000 more than the 2019 budget of $4,193,579, an 8.9 per cent increase, but the town will see an increase in revenues other than from taxes, Bellemare said. “The budget is tight but responsible,” he added. The owner of a home valued at $141,000 using all services will pay $87 more in 2020 than in 2019, Bellemare said. The fixed cost to the town, like public safety and environmental services, are going up, he said. But, he pointed out, the potential for revenues remains level. See full story in the Friday, Jan. 17 edition of The Record.