Property taxes to pay for transit?
Port Moody mayor says there may be no alternative
Port Moody Mayor Mike Clay suggested this week that property taxes could be used as one way to help finance transit projects.
Photograph by: file photo , NOW
It's a problem that won't seem to go away for Metro Vancouver politicians - how to fund major transit projects.
Next week, the TransLink mayors' council will meet once again to discuss the transportation authority's 2013 supplemental funding plan.
The meeting includes a motion reversing support for using property taxes to fund the base plan for two years.
Though Port Moody Mayor Mike Clay admits there is no easy answer to the funding crunch facing TransLink, he suggested it might be time to use property tax as a means to help pay the transit bills.
"The good answer is the people that want these services have to stand up and say they're willing to pay," he told The NOW.
Clay said he doesn't see using property taxes to fund transit capital projects as a bad idea, and suggested, when the mayors meet on Oct. 18, he won't be alone in that thought.
He said people in the "transit wastelands," which he described as being cities further out in Metro Vancouver, believe something needs to be done.
"One way or another it's tax money. We need more money," Clay said.
The mayor made the argument that if TransLink is successful in reducing vehicle use and increasing transit use, fuel tax revenue will continue to decline, making it an unsustainable funding model.
In 2011, the mayors' council agreed to a temporary property tax to fund the plan, which worked out to about a $20-property-tax increase for the average homeowner in Port Moody.
In the spring, the mayors gave their suggestions for long-term funding, including a vehicle levy, road pricing and tolls, but the province rejected their recommendations.
While a TransLink audit identified $98 million in efficiencies, the figure still won't cover the nearly $500 million shortfall the authority is facing over the three years.
The Port Moody mayor is warning if the funding dilemma can't be resolved, more cuts to transit service are likely on the way.
Last month, the transportation authority said it was scrapping more than 300,000 planned hours of bus service improvement as part of its base plan for 2013. There was concern a couple of routes in Port Coquitlam might move from 30-to 60-minute service in the evenings.
Clay even suggested TransLink should be broken up to deal with just transit, not some of the other mandates on its plate like the road network or AirCare.
