The city’s roads are in need of repair – worth at least $5 million more per year than what’s being spent now.

The mayor sees a two cents per litre gas tax as the best solution.

The alternative, says Mayor George Peary, would be to hike taxes by five per cent per year, for roads alone. Combined with a three or four per cent tax increase that council will likely be looking at in this fall’s budget, that would bring the hike close to nine per cent.

“There would be outrage, and all of us (at city hall) would soon be seeking other daytime jobs,” predicted the mayor. “Nine per cent isn’t going to fly.”

Abbotsford’s roads are in poor condition, according to a report by EBA Consulting. The report viewed by council on Monday evening says the city’s roads are cracked in more than 11 per cent of their surface area. That’s second worst in the Lower Mainland to Hope, and compares unfavourably to Coquitlam (5.7 per cent), Surrey (5.6), Langley Township (5) Delta (2.4) and all other communities served by EBA.

In view of the report, the city engineering department is recommending an annual road resurfacing budget of $9.6 million per year.

The 2009 road resurfacing budget is currently $3.7 million. For the past five years, the city’s annual expenditure for road resurfacing has been $4.4 million.

“So we’re spending less than half of what we should be spending?” asked Coun. John Smith at the meeting.

“We’ve slipped dramatically,” answered Peary.

“What is it going to cost us if we don’t do this?

This is catch-up time.” noted Coun. Patricia Ross, observing that letting roads deteriorate multiplies the cost of repair. “I’m not sure we really have a choice here.”

City manager Frank Pizzuto said the city is asking senior levels of government whether funding that had previously been allocated for bike lanes could be put toward other transportation infrastructure.

Council deferred the matter to budget discussions set for October.

Following the meeting, Peary told The News previous councils have neglected the road network.

“It’s so easy for councils to get into postponing roads – it’s a way to balance budgets,” he said.

“And I was part of it.

“This is why I’ve floated the idea of a two cents per litre gas tax,” he said.

Peary noted that the two cents per litre would raise $5 to $6 million per year. It could be used for road resurfacing, and to upgrade the transit system.

By comparison, a one per cent increase in the tax rate raises only about $860,000.

“I think a two cents per litre gas tax would be far less controversial than a five per cent property tax increase (for roads alone),” said Peary.

The mayor said the public will be consulted in the budget process this fall.

The final plan will be set by the end of December.

“No politician takes a fiendish delight in raising taxes,” said Peary.

“At the end of the day, we have to find the money somewhere.”

Road

facts

Abbotsford has 925 kilometres of paved roadway.

The replacement value of all city roads would be more than

$900 million.

Cracked roads can be patched, but left in that condition they continue to deteriorate until more expensive reclamation work is required, where the road is milled out and a thick overlay applied. Complete

reconstruction could also be necessary.

Those costs:

Patch and overlay – $280,000 per km

Reclaiming – $600,000 per km

Reconstruction – $1,040,000 per km

'Nothing rational' about gas prices

In pitching his proposed two cents per litre fuel tax, Mayor George Peary noted Abbotsford residents pay six cents per litre less than drivers in Metro Vancouver municipalities (Langley and west).

However, he noted that the actual differential at the pump can vary from two cents to a dime from Abbotsford to the communities hit by the TransLink tax.

“You get the impression there’s nothing rational about the retail price of gasoline,” said Peary.

This appeared to be confirmed by gas prices on Tuesday:

Gasoline per litre

106.9 in Abbotsford

103.9 in Coquitlam

107.5 in Burnaby

107.5 in Richmond

110.8 in Surrey

These prices were listed on GasTips.com, and varied considerably even within the same community.

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