Metro mayors seek new ways to fund infrastructure
Posted November 29, 2012 10:04 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BURNABY (NEWS1130) – We’re all feeling the pinch these days and your civic government is no different.
Metro mayors gathered in Burnaby for a day-long symposium yesterday to talk about new ways to fund infrastructure.
“Two thirds of all publicly-owned infrastructure is owned and managed by local governments. So, [that includes] all the pipes and sewer systems, roads, transit systems,” explains Metro Vancouver Board Chair and Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore.
“Yet, we only receive eight per cent of the [property] tax dollar,” he points out.
Moore adds the mayors are looking elsewhere for new funding models.
“When you look internationally, there are many jurisdictions that have a percentage of the income tax or a consumption tax or any variable… many different options around other taxes that the provincial and federal government have the ability to [levy].”
All mayors agree there needs to be a fundamental change to how Canadian municipalities are financed and managed, but how we get there remains up for debate.
