A year after introducing an annual one per cent capital levy to help finance future projects, council has scaled it back for 2019.
Last year, council directed staff to implement an annual one per cent capital levy, with the funding helping to address the challenge of replacing infrastructure, buildings and equipment and investing in new services and infrastructure to meet the needs of a growing community. With a larger-than-normal tax hike being contemplated in New Westminster this year, in part because of a provincially imposed Health Employers Tax that adds 1.8 per cent increase to the budget, staff included a 0.5 per cent capital levy in 2019 to lessen the impact on taxpayers.
Some council members were comfortable reducing the levy to 0.5 per cent in 2019, but others preferred to keep it to the one per cent.
Coun. Patrick Johnstone supported continuation of a one per cent capital levy, noting it was introduced last year to help fund the city’s “very ambitious” capital plan.
“Financing those (capital projects) is really going to be the Number 1 challenge in our budget in the next five years going forward,” he said. “We have seen the numbers about where our debt is going and where our reserves are going, and I think we made a good decision last year to have that specific one per cent capital levy every year so that we could put a little bit of money aside to reduce the shock on the system when we get up to the point of actually having to pay the bills for this aggressive capital program.”
Colleen Ponzini, the city’s acting chief financial officer, said the city’s five-year capital plan anticipates spending $265 million, of which $124 million would be funded through reserves, $112 million from debt and $28 million from development cost charges, grants and contributions. She said city staff are trying to secure grants, which would reduce the need to borrow or draw on reserves, which are projected to decrease from $69 million in 2018 to $39 million in 2023.
Coun. Mary Trentadue also supported continuing with a one per cent tax levy.
“It is important we be very clear and transparent to the community about why we put this in the budget. The need is there. This is not something that council has just determined we should have. I think it is providing a bit of false hope to say we need it one year and we don’t need it the next year and to move it around based on the tax requirements and demands,” she said. “I support this. I know that it is a hardship, but unfortunately it is absolutely required to do the thing the community wants us to do.”
Council defeated a motion to maintain the capital levy at one per cent for 2019.
Mayor Jonathan Cote said he supports the capital levy because the city has aging infrastructure and needs to invest in new facilities, but he didn’t support a one per cent levy in 2019.
“If approved, that gets us to 5.78 per cent, and it’s just a point that I am not comfortable getting to from a tax point of view,” he said of the impact on this year’s property tax increase.
Cote said the levy will be part of discussions in future budget years, but he believes the city has to have some flexibility, particularly in “tough budget years” like 2019.
“I think this is a reasonable compromise that allows the capital levy to stay in place but maybe not as originally envisioned,” he said.
The city’s 2019 proposed capital budget is $66.9 million, which is an increase from $63.4 million in 2018.
Some of the items costing more than $100,000 in the city’s 2019 capital budget include:
* $540,600 – to purchase property on the Fraser River waterfront to accommodate a proposed greenway.
* $ 7,165,600 – to help fund the Canada Games Pool replacement project.
* $819,400 – to replace the HVAC system to include air cooling system at Century House.
* $190,000 – to replace the roof of the city’s main greenhouse in Queen’s Park.
* $470,000 – to replace the ice plant system at Moody Park Arena.
* $5,492,200 – to build the Queen’s Park Sportsplex, which is replacing the former Arenex building.
* $550,000 – to replace the ice plant system at Queen’s Park Arena.
* $6,296,700 – to renovate city hall.
* $1,228,000 – to complete the renovation of the uptown library.
* $8,236,900 – to relocate and construct a new animal services facility and tow yard.
* $799,800 – to help fund upgrades to Massey Theatre.
* $1,390,500 – to go toward the city’s fleet of vehicles and other automotive equipment.
The capital program includes $5,214,500 in park improvements, which includes work on the Hume Pool, off-leash enclosures, replacement of the Mercer skate board park, a new washroom and concession building in Queen’s Park, a new front driveway at the Queensborough Community Centre to address “slippage” along the drainage canal, and the provision of shade components at Westminster Pier Park because park users are finding the park to be extremely hot without shade.
Engineering structures also account for $18,026,100 in the capital budget, which includes funds for cycling and greenways, Great Streets, livable neighbourhoods (traffic calming), repairs and rehabilitation to infrastructure, and road initiatives. Some of the big-ticket items include Phase 3 of the Brunette Fraser Regional Greenway – Braid Street ($1,257,700), repairs to the esplanade ($630,000), street lighting improvements ($400,000), traffic signal installation and improvements ($1,073,500) and pavement management ($3,915,600).
Additionally, the capital budget includes funds for railway improvements, improvements to improve walkability in the city, and special projects including the Q to Q pedestrian ferry ($1,029,300), the riverfront connection between Sapperton Landing and Pier Park ($1.5 million), Phase 3 of Ewen Avenue ($1,029,300), and accessible pedestrian connections to the riverfront ($1.5 million).
