Bridge work could consume any one year’s tax revenue bump
The financial impact of allowing bridge projects to qualify for funding from Winnipeg’s local and regional street renewal reserve could be significant, a review of the bridge construction expenditures indicates.
From 2014 to 2019, City Council approved $51.5 million in bridge projects – almost precisely matching the annual revenue bumps from the street repair reserves, which are funded through a yearly, dedicated 2% property tax hike. The tax hikes have put $50.9 million more into the reserves since 2014.
The tax hike from 2020 to 2024 is expected to flow an additional $63.4 million to the reserves, the city’s 2019 Capital Projects forecast indicates. The same forecast shows that bridge construction projects in the same period are expected to cost $50.65 million.
The bridge expenses do not include the annual program for waterways, nor grade separations, retaining walls or slope stabilizations. Including those items would ramp up costs considerably.
City council this year decided to allow bridge projects to draw funding from the reserves. The reserves, however, were established in 2013 (local street renewal program) and 2014 (regional street renewal program) expressly to move street repair budgets to a “sustainable” level – getting Winnipeg out of its infrastructure investment deficit and to the point where annual budgets match the work needed to keep streets in good condition.
“This was not the deal City Council made with property taxpayers in 2013 and 2014, when Winnipeggers agreed to pay, every year, 2% more on their tax bills to improve the condition of their streets,” MHCA President Chris Lorenc stressed.
Lorenc said the MHCA will be asking Mayor Brian Bowman and city councillors to clarify what types of bridge work, specifically, will qualify for funding out of the street repair reserves. Further, discussions will be launched about how the city will be able to preserve the plan to get to sustainable budget levels to eliminate the infrastructure gap.
“We made progress with the 2% tax-hike plan, and we can’t afford to backslide,” Lorenc said. “We can’t allow Winnipeg streets to get further riddled by potholes. We’ve seen some pretty significant sinkholes appear this spring – these are all signs of serious decay.”