The Bell Center continues to escape the fate of almost all Montreal buildings and will see its tax bill drop for the fifth straight year next year.
The municipal assessment of the Montreal Canadiens’ home has dropped nearly 40% since 2011, driving the bill.
According to the City of Montreal, the Bell Center is currently worth $150 million, compared to $256 million in 2011. Meanwhile, property taxes on it fell from $10.8 million to $5.3 million during the same period.
The building was built in 1996 for $265 million, including land. In 2015, the Molson family announced a $100 million skin rejuvenation treatment.
She did not return calls from CH Group, which owns the Bell Centre Journalism.
“The assessments are carried out by the city assessor and are carried out completely independently, in an objective and recognized manner,” commented the Chairman of Mayor Valery Plante’s Executive Committee, Luc Rabouin, at the last meeting of the Municipal Council. He was responding to a question from a citizen angry about the fall of this bill.
He stressed that the 2023-2025 land table indicates the value of buildings as of 1any July 2021. “Do you remember what kind of context we were in? ,” added the elected official. “The growth of many downtown commercial buildings has been very limited compared to residential buildings, and there have even been declines […] Because of the epidemic. This explains the devaluation of a building like the Bell Center. »
Disputed valuation
However, there is another factor that can help explain this significant drop in property valuation.
15 years ago, the Peel Center disputed its municipal assessment. In its decision, the Administrative Court concluded that the value of the Bell Center was 139 million in 2004-2006 and 172 million in 2007-2010 (the city wanted 230 million and the CH Group 65 million).
There are three ways to evaluate a building’s property value: cost, income, and comparison. The cost method is based on the rebuilding value of the building (minus depreciation); Income method, anticipating the income generated; The comparative method for analyzing land value for similar buildings.
In the Bell Center case, the court preferred the income method. Even if the decision only applies to the years 2004 to 2010, the city has decided to continue implementing its principles.
“I’d rather it be worth more.”
While the Bell Center is losing value every year, Montreal’s other major performance halls are on the opposite path. Despite the pandemic, Montreal assessors estimated that the Place des Arts was worth 20% more in 2021 (283 million) than in 2018 (236 million). The value of the Saint-Denis Theater grew at the same rate, rising from 7.1 million to 8.5 million. Growth was slightly less sustainable for MTelus (former Metropolis), which increased its value from 4.4 million to 5.2 million.
Saputo Stadium, home of FC Montreal, followed the opposite path, with the number of spectators rising from 25 million to 23.1 million.
The value of the entire real estate portfolio on the Island of Montreal increased by 32.4% between 2018 and 2021, with all property types combined.
“I would prefer it to be more expensive,” the current chief financial officer of Plante Management, Benoit Duris, in 2019, told QUB Radio. “If it is worth more, then there is surely a way to get more money compared to the average.”
“It’s not the elected officials who choose to value the property, and we don’t even have any right to inspect. […] He said that the chief advisor is the one who has authority according to the law.
Mr. Doris, along with Valerie Plante, announced on November 15 an increase in property taxes of 4.9% for the residential sector and 4.6% for the non-residential sector. However, this increase represents the average increase in invoices sent by the city, including the increase in property values. In fact, the City of Montreal reduces the tax rate every year for approximately every $100 of assessment.
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