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City to look at levy to pay for fixing roads

BY KEITH LACEY [email protected] Property owners can expect another tax increase starting next year to ensure roads across the City of Greater Sudbury can be rebuilt and maintained for years to come.
BY KEITH LACEY

Property owners can expect another tax increase starting next year to ensure roads across the City of Greater Sudbury can be rebuilt and maintained for years to come.

Since 1996 municipalities have been faced with all costs involved in roads maintenance.
Members of city council will also be asked to consider a staff proposal to borrow as much as $6 million a year, over the next 10 years, from the province at a low interest rate. This is needed so the rapid deterioration and poor maintenance of our roads can be turned around.

Most of Wednesday evening?s priorities committee meeting dealt with the serious problems of road expenditures and capital financing of road projects.

If more money isn?t spent, roads will deteriorate from a fair to poor rating within the next five years, said Don Belisle, general manager of public works.

However, if the necessary amount of money is poured back into the maintenance and reconstruction budgets, our overall roads network could be upgraded to good or excellent by 2010, he said.

?This is the worst year I?ve seen road conditions in my time here at the city (almost 30 years),? said Belisle. ?I think we?ve hit the wall?that?s how serious the problem is.?

Belisle told the committee our roads are falling apart due to chronic underfunding for capital spending and roads maintenance.

?It?s not a good news story and you?ve heard it before,? said Belisle.

In the end, council approved three motions recommended by staff.

They include the roads maintenance program for 2003 continue as forecasted; meaning the roads expenditure budget will be overdrawn by $2 million.

Council also approved a recommendation that considering the roads maintenance budget has been exceeded by an average of $5 million over the last three years, an extra $2 million be set aside in the 2004 roads budget.

The most important recommendation approved by the committee was staff bring forward a financing plan in the fall, outlining various options in keeping with the city?s 10-year long-term financial plan.

The options for the financial plan will include the introduction of a capital renewal levy of about 2.4 per cent and participation in a provincial/municipal economic infrastructure financing plan.

Doug Wuksinic, general manager of corporate services, said council will eventually decide what plan of action to take. But he made it clear something must be done to ensure there?s enough money to start taking better care of the 1,350 kilometres of roadway under the city?s care.

The province has a plan where municipalities can borrow large amounts of money for infrastructure programs at a low interest rate (2.4 per cent). He will present options to access this fund in his final report this fall, said Wuksinic.

The special debate on roads spending was brought forward as the key agenda item since the priorities committee meeting of two weeks ago spent only 10 minutes on the issue.

Since 1996, municipalities have been faced with absorbing all costs involved in roads maintenance and reconstruction, something the province used to pay 80 per cent of, said Belisle.

This city used to average about $15 million annually on capital reconstruction of roads, but we?ve spent an average of only $9 million since amalgamation three years ago, he said.

The roads maintenance budget has increased from around $15 million annually before amalgamation to close to $20 million the past two years, yet our roads remain in terrible condition and public complaints have never been so prolific, he said.

?If this trend continues, you can be assured?the maintenance budget alone will exceed $30 million and you will still have poorer roads,? he said.

City staff has recommended annual needs of $25 million for reconstruction and another $20 million on road resurfacing.

The problem is bad in Sudbury and it?s the same story across the country as municipal infrastructure is failing and falling apart. However, the federal government hasn?t announced any new funding mechanisms, said Wuksinic.

The province used to finance 25 per cent of all capital projects in 1988, but now provides just over four per cent, he said.

?Unfortunately, we have no answers?this is why municipalities are in the shape they are in,? he said.

Since 1996 when the province downloaded roads to municipalities, Sudbury has lost over $126 million in provincial grants, most of which went to roads maintenance and reconstruction, said Wuksinic.

Most homeowners believe their property taxes are too high, but Sudbury has the third lowest millrate of 54 communities surveyed across Ontario. The city is now ranked fourth lowest in total tax burden for property taxes, water, wastewater and hydro, he said.

Options to be presented in his final report will include options to borrow provincial money at a low interest rate, introduce the capital levy and press the province and federal governments to provide more funding, he said.

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