Metro Vancouver mayors are calling on TransLink to push back at the B.C. government, saying the province must find new ways to pay for its "favourite" projects rather than forcing local taxpayers to foot the bill.
On Wednesday, TransLink outlined its 2013 draft base plan, which calls for a temporary two-year property tax increase to provide $30 million annually for transit projects. That includes a rapid bus route along Highway 1 over the new Port Mann Bridge as demanded by provincial politicians.
Mayors earlier this year voted to rescind the temporary property tax, approved in a long-term TransLink plan. That was after the province rejected two other funding proposals in that plan - a vehicle levy and using some of the province's carbon tax revenue.
Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said Metro mayors are frustrated by the continuing budget woes and asked TransLink whether it was now trying to "pressure the mayors" to approve the property tax.
TransLink is already facing service cuts because revenue from gas taxes, a key funding source, is dropping as people drive less and switch to more efficient vehicles.
"This whole group is committed to improving regional transportation," Brodie said. "But TransLink doesn't have enough money. Look how you cut it to the bone and you're still $163 million down. It just seems to me (the) province is desperate for this group to approve property taxes.
"They won't give anything and we won't give anything. When is TransLink going to sit down with the province and make realistic decisions about funding sources? You have to pressure the province not to fund their favourite projects any more."
TransLink maintains the mayors approved the property tax hike and it can only be rescinded if a supplementary plan is drawn up. Officials have warned that without the money, proposed improvements, including an express B-Line in Surrey and upgrades to the Expo line SkyTrain stations, could be at risk.
The transportation authority has outlined other measures, such as increasing rates at park-and-ride lots and shifting buses to higher demand areas, in hopes of boosting revenue. But several mayors argue their communities are being shortchanged by the measures and argue the province has to take some responsibility.
Brodie sought Wednesday to have the mayors confirm their decision to axe the property tax hike and to have TransLink draw up a supplementary plan, but the majority of mayors put the decision off until they meet in October.
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan argued TransLink has found itself in a financial mess because the province has stepped into its business through the back door.
He said the province spent $50 million on a new park-and-ride facility in Langley and forced TransLink to make the rapid bus across the Port Mann Bridge a priority when the money could be spent on improving transit service elsewhere. He also cited the province's interference in making the Evergreen Line a SkyTrain service rather than the cheaper light rail line the mayors wanted.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said the options available to TransLink for funding transit - fares, property taxes and the gas tax - are no longer enough.
"We have to put the ball back in the provincial government's corner and say we can't function. We've done everything we possibly can, TransLink has done everything they possibly can, where do we turn?"
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