Looks like the project has been saved...for now...
http://www.bclocalnews.com/tri_city_maple_ridge/tricitynews/news/110681944.html
Bond blinks, agrees to more talks on TransLink funding
By Jeff Nagel - BC Local News
Published: November 25, 2010 1:00 PM
Updated: November 25, 2010 1:37 PM
Transportation Minister Shirley Bond has relented and agreed to wait until the new year to find a range of new financing mechanisms to fund TransLink and ensure the Evergreen Line gets built.
The move means Metro Vancouver mayors won't vote after all Dec. 9 on the TransLink board's proposal that they authorize raising property taxes at least $36 per average household to fund the $1.4-billion SkyTrain line to Coquitlam.
Local cities had been told they had to approve some method by the end of this year to deliver their $400 million share of the Evergreen Line costs as well as phase one of the North Fraser Perimeter Road or else federal contributions expire.
Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart said word came Thursday morning that Bond – who had previously hinted Victoria would force a solution if the mayors voted down the funding – has agreed to wait and consider other options.
That means everything from road pricing to a vehicle levy or other mechanisms not currently available to TransLink could soon be on the table.
"The province has agreed to speak with us in the next three months about a range of other tools to fund the ongoing transportation needs of the region," Stewart said. "It provides breathing room."
The issue was also to be debated Friday (Nov. 26) by the Metro board, where a senior staff report recommended mayors reject the tax-hike plan.
Most mayors had already staked out a firm stance against increasing property taxes further for TransLink expansion.
It was going to be "enormously challenging" for a yes vote to pass, he said, adding a no vote could have been seen by the province as the mayors breaking their commitment three years earlier.
Stewart said he's relieved the region and province won't be forced into a confrontation.
"It isn't good public policy to be making decisions because of artificial deadlines," he said. "Time and dialogue will hold the possibility of much better solutions that show better respect."
Stewart said he hopes TransLink gets access to half a dozen or more new revenue sources.
His favourite is a site-specific development cost charge that would put a good portion of the cost of new rapid transit lines onto property owners who stand to profit in defined benefitting areas.
TransLink had contemplated a vehicle levy instead this fall, which would have charged every registered vehicle $15 to $55 a year, depending on the carbon footprint, but concluded there wasn't enough time to property consider and implement the idea.
TransLink had also tabled a second option for mayors to consider – a broader set of bus service and SkyTrain station upgrades in addition to the Evergreen Line and perimeter road. It would have meant committing to a bigger tax hike of $61 a year for a typical home ($8.91 per $100,000 of assessed value.)
Mayors had been told the property tax hike if approved might not actually need to go ahead if other sources could be found next year.
But several mayors said they were unwilling to trust that the province would deliver new sources after they sign off on a tax hike.
The province intends to issue a request for proposals on the Evergreen Line in early 2011.
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