LANGLEY (NEWS1130) - Langley City Council is doing what it can to avoid using property tax dollars to pay for its share of the
Evergreen Line. Council is looking at ideas but may need more support from the province.
Mayor
Peter Fassbender tells us his council is meeting tomorrow to try to come up with the cash to pay for upcoming transportation improvements, but he really doesn't want to tap into property tax cash.
"The other $30 million that the two per cent property tax represents needs to be funded by other sources and that has been the position of the Mayor's Council consistently in all of this," says Fassbender.
"[That money] needs to be kicked in if we are going to stay on the program that's been laid forward by January 2013. We have the remainder of this year to find other funding options," he adds.
Council is meeting with the transportation minister on March 7th to discuss how the province can provide relief, if any.
"We need the support from the provincial government to perhaps add some other tools into the existing legislation in order to be able to implement those funding sources," argues Fassbender.
Langley's share of the transportation plan will pay for the Evergreen Line, increased bus service south of the Fraser, a rapid bus for Highway 1 and buses taking commuters from Langley to Brentwood in Burnaby.