Telkwa is urging the federal government to allow more flexibility for the use of federal funds for projects like water towers.
To do that, council is looking for support at the Union of BC Municipalities Convention next week in hopes to bring the issue to the feds.
Mayor Darcy Repen says the rules don’t allow the ‘stacking’ of gas tax grants with other federal grants for infrastructure projects. He says right now only 50 per cent of an infrastructure project can be federal money through the Clean Water and Waste Water Fund.
That means Telkwa can’t use reserved federal grants for their water infrastructure projects, according to Repen.
He says that’s keeping the village from building a new water tower and upgrading the water system.
“What we’re saying is a dollars a dollar. And the reality is if we don’t utilize that we will struggle to afford to do this project because of the impact on our tax base. Get rid of that 50 per cent cap for core infrastructure projects,” says Repen.
“The province and the feds need to step up and realize that for all their priorities and initiatives, we don’t have a whole lot if our community’s water and sewer systems are failing.”
Skeena Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen says it’s been a long and simmering debate.
“I’m hugely supportive of the efforts that Telkwa Council and their mayor have made in this direction.”
Cullen hopes Telkwa gets the support of other communities “that are stuck in that terrible middle ground where you’re large enough to get some funding but not large enough that you get access to the vast majority of grants.”
Infrastructure is something the Trudeau government talks a lot about. We would like to see more of it happening. They’ve shorted infrastructure by …$4 billion so far in their government. It’s time to stop screwing around with these funding formulas and shutting out a whole bunch of communities.”
Here’s the full resolution passed from Telkwa Council:
“Whereas most large local government water and wastewater infrastructure projects require grant funding support from the provincial and federal governments;
And whereas federal funding rules restrict “stacking” gas tax funds as part of municipal grant funding contributions;
And whereas the preference of some communities may be to utilize accumulated federal gas tax funds as part of their matching grant contribution to limit the burden on their property tax payers:
Therefore be it resolved that UBCM call on the federal government to allow communities to use federal gas tax funds as part of their matching contribution to grant funding for critical infrastructure projects involving water and wastewater”