The funding deal that TransLink reached with the province on Thursday doesn’t entirely fix the agency’s fiscal woes, but it does buy it time to keep working on a permanent resolution, officials say. Read More
With new B.C. money, fare hikes and a small property tax hike, TransLink has pushed its fiscal crisis off to the end of 2027
With new B.C. money, fare hikes and a small property tax hike, TransLink has pushed its fiscal crisis off to the end of 2027
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The funding deal that TransLink reached with the province on Thursday doesn’t entirely fix the agency’s fiscal woes, but it does buy it time to keep working on a permanent resolution, officials say.
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The B.C. government announced Thursday that it would provide $312 million in operating funding to the Metro Vancouver transit operator over the next three years.
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On TransLink’s side, the funding agreement calls for the five-per-cent fare increase that the agency approved on March 27 to take effect in July, to be followed by two-per-cent annual increases, and a $1.50 increase to the surcharge for travelling from YVR.
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It will also require a 0.5 per cent increase to TransLink’s property tax charge, equal to about $20 for a median Metro household.
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Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, vice-chair of the TransLink Mayor’s Council, acknowledged it “is not the settlement that the mayors were hoping for.”
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However, at the end of “lengthy and spirited negotiations,” Brodie said, “I think I can say with confidence that this was the best that the mayors could negotiate.”
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Meanwhile, the risk that TransLink will run off a fiscal cliff has been pushed back to the end of 2027.
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Brodie said TransLink was close to negotiating a permanent revision to its funding formula in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic sent it off the rails.
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Last year, TransLink sounded the alarm that it faced a $600 million a year deficit starting in 2026 when pandemic-era emergency funding from the provincial and federal governments was due to run out.
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TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn warned that his agency faced services faced major cuts if the provincial and federal governments didn’t step up with contributions to its funding for day-to-day operations.
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“(With) the proposed investment plan that’s on the table, we essentially reduce that (deficit) in half,” Quinn told Postmedia on Friday.
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“We recognize certainly there’s more work to be done,” Quinn said. ” (But) tackling a $300 million deficit a few years from now is easier than a $600 million deficit.”
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Quinn added that the proposed agreement should also include new tools to help tackle that deficit once the latest provincial grant runs out.
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The province’s $312 million grant “keeps us fully funded and providing full service to the end of 2027,” Quinn said. “What they’ve also done is they’ve committed to introducing a new revenue source in 2027 to provide continuing funding.”
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However, Quinn said Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth didn’t offer any hints what form that new source of revenue would take, such as a vehicle levy.
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