Mayor won’t push province for arena cash
Iveson supports dipping into community revitalization levy
Edmonton shouldn’t waste “political capital” by pushing the new NDP government for $32 million for the downtown arena, Mayor Don Iveson says.
The city is still waiting for the province to kick in $25 million requested in 2013 under a defunct regional collaboration grant and $7 million requested for the community rink.
“The $32 million is a new (arena-related) expenditure. We should all have seen this coming,” he said Tuesday.
“I don’t think it’s a good use of our political capital to press this point with (the NDP). We have other priorities.”
He supported a proposal to pay the money out of the community revitalization levy or CRL, which directs property taxes on downtown growth toward the arena and other city-centre projects.
It’s too late to ask the Katz Group for extra payments, especially when the city wants to talk to them about other joint ventures such as repurposing Rexall Place, Iveson said. “A deal is a deal … going back to ask them for that, I don’t think would be fair.”
He agreed with a plan to take a further $80 million out of the levy to cover costs initially slated to be paid from such city sources as new parking and a subsidy for the Oilers at Rexall Place.
This saves interest charges and frees up $5 million to $6 million a year that could go to general city revenues, officials said.
One advantage to using CRL funding is that about 25 per cent of it comes from education taxes, which otherwise go to the province, Iveson said.
“If we want to capture that dough, this is the way to do it.”
The levy is now expected to bring in $1.4 billion taxes over two decades, about $400 million more than estimated two years ago, a city report says.
That’s mainly the result of stronger than anticipated development, including three office and residential towers in the arena district.
Even if office assessments drop for the next three years, there will still be enough CRL money to do all approved and future projects.
These include the arena, Jasper Avenue redevelopment, new sewers and parks, walkable street upgrades, housing incentives and the Galleria arts complex.
“If you were sitting in Pittsburgh today, you would say ‘wow.’ If you were sitting in New Jersey, you would say ‘wow,’ because similar (arena) models were used,” city manager Simon Farbrother said.
“Their associated development is absolutely nowhere what you see on the ground (in Edmonton) today.”
Edmonton-East MP Peter Goldring issued a news release criticizing any move to divert education funding to the arena.
“If schools are struggling to find money, as are parents, it is shameful to use education money for the building of a hockey arena for millionaire players to play in.”
But Iveson said the move doesn’t come at the expense of schools because education property taxes go into general provincial revenues.