MHCA to Respond to Proposals for New Winnipeg Road Funding Model
MHCA will be addressing a report to City Council’s Public Works Committee that recommends changing the current way the local and regional street renewal program is funded.
“We will speak to a number of points raised within the administration report to Public Works at the Committee meeting June 26,” Lorenc said. “Ultimately, the proposed new funding model sets out predictable, incremental revenues over the long-term for the street renewal program, and that is key to getting the best value from the budget set each year.”
The committee is being asked to choose from three options for a funding model for the local and regional street renewal program.
The first is to continue along with the 2% annual tax hike that flows revenues to the program’s reserves. But the administration says by its calculations, that will produce a combined surplus of $475 million to the program by 2037. It notes there is growing demand from other existing city services, that require funding sources.
The second option is to reduce the tax in future years, and use the revenues to the reserve to also fund the planting of trees alongside the road renewal projects.
The administration, in a report to Public Works Committee, recommends a third option (Scenario 3), in which the annual tax is dramatically reduced from 2% to 0.5% by 2037, and use the program’s reserves to do more: repair more sidewalks and alleys, plant trees and build out the active transportation network.
“We have always acknowledged the City has real challenges to fund more services, especially given the social issues Winnipeg faces, and is hard-pressed to do so with its restricted revenue sources,” Lorenc said.
That is why the MHCA has advocated for a very long time for a better funding deal for municipalities from the provincial and, by extension, the federal governments, he said. Municipalities collect just 10 cents of every tax dollar, while bearing heavy costs; municipalities own about 60% of public infrastructure.
“Ultimately, the MHCA supports a predictable, multi-year funding model that allows our industry to prepare their business plans and allows Winnipeggers to get full value out of annual budgets.”
