Sudbury Northern Life Reporter Bill Bradley
Mayor John Rodriguez has asked for more flexibility from the Build Canada Fund of the federal government. He also asked the Conservatives to accelerate the infrastructure program so local projects can get underway quickly.
“On behalf of the Council and citizens of the City of Greater Sudbury, I am writing to encourage your government to accelerate infrastructure investments, including those under the Building Canada Fund," wrote Rodriguez to the Honourable James Flaherty, Minister of Finance on Dec. 19.
Rodriguez said taxpayers are very concerned about a possible large city tax hike coming in 2009.
“If we can get infrastructure money, especially for water-related projects, that would take pressure off city council to have to ask for a significant increase (5.0 per cent) in the waste and wastewater rate that is being proposed,” said Rodriguez Wednesday.
Flaherty has indicated a willingness to take suggestions from various financial stakeholders in the delivery of the program in the lead-up to the federal budget Jan. 27.
Rodriguez supported the recommendations made to Transport Minister John Baird earlier in December by Peter Hume, president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO).
These included increasing the amount of funding for the current infrastructure budget and fast tracking senior government approvals for projects. But he had a couple of other suggestions:
-extending the eligibility for the major projects component of the fund for those projects such as the Levack Water Treatment Plant (approximately $18.5 million capital cost) that are under $30 million in total cost-this would allow a portion of the capital cost to be taken off city taxpayers according to Rodriguez.
-allowing funding to be extended to projects already underway but which are now being phased in so as not to disqualify important projects
-eligibility for the Communities Component to be extended to cities with populations up to 250,000 (such as Greater Sudbury) from the current 100,000 cut-off
The case for investing in municipal infrastructure is solid, according to AMO.
“Ontario municipalities annually spend a great deal of money, $3.9 billion, but not nearly enough to address the problem. According to this analysis, an additional $6 billion a year over the next ten years needs to be invested in municipal infrastructure in Ontario to address the accumulated municipal deficit,” states their letter to Baird.
AMO argues that investing in infrastructure now may help to jump start the poor economic conditions many cities and towns face during the economic downturn.
“Being able to unlock infrastructure dollars to renew and preserve assets will be as critical and as beneficial economically as the funding of new projects and may in fact fit the circumstances of smaller communities...municipalities are also likely to leverage their spending as we have seen in the federal Gas Tax Fund program leveraging additional investment and job creation.”