Let tax streams fund transit plan, mayors say
Metro Vancouver mayors say the local share of funding for a transit improvement plan that includes the Broadway subway, Surrey light rail and a new Pattullo Bridge should come from property transfer and school taxes paid by the region’s residents.
The idea was put forward in a resolution that was adopted during a closed TransLink Mayors Council meeting Thursday.
The mayors were responding to the B.C. Liberals’ requirement that a referendum be held if TransLink wants to use new funding sources to pay for its share of the cost of implementing a 10-year vision for the region’s transit system.
The federal and provincial governments have committed $4.4 billion to capital costs of the rail and bridge projects, but TransLink hasn’t yet come up with a way to pay for its share of the plan.
Its only existing revenue sources are property taxes and fares. Property tax and fare increases will go into effect this year to pay for the first phase of the plan, which is already being rolled out, but the mayors said in their resolution that they are opposed to using another property-tax hike to pay for the rest of the three-phase plan.
The resolution also states that the council “remains opposed to, and will not participate in, a second transit referendum.” The mayors have said it will delay and increase the cost of projects outlined in the 10-year plan if a referendum is held.
Instead, the mayors believe the local transit funding should come from school and property transfer taxes Metro Vancouver residents are already paying to the province. The mayors described the revenue from those taxes as a “windfall.”
“The council is ready to work with whoever forms the next government to enact a regional charge on new development to fund transit, and recapture some of the taxes already being paid by the region’s homeowners, which are currently going into general provincial revenues,” the mayors said in a news release.
The Mayors Council also asked the Liberals and NDP to clarify their positions on the Pattullo Bridge replacement following promises by the parties to cap or eliminate bridge tolls. TransLink had hoped to pay for up to twothirds of the capital costs for the aging bridge using tolls.
The mayors said the loss of toll revenue will affect the timing and viability of the bridge, creating “significant uncertainties.” TransLink has determined that the 80-year-old bridge must be replaced or closed by 2023.