New gas tax being examined
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Updated: July 13, 2009 3:26 PM
A new gas tax could be coming next year to help the district fund road improvements and local transit.
Mission council has been in discussions with Abbotsford council for a number of months now to discuss a regional fuel surcharge, which could include Chilliwack.
The two cities are looking at increasing prices by two or three cents per litre, but nothing has been settled, said Dennis Clark, Mission's director of corporate administration, who pointed out any tax increase has to be approved by the provincial government.
Mission recently had a consultant review the state of affairs for paved roads, said Clark. The district has a $1 million budget each year for road repairs and paving, but the study concluded Mission needs a budget of three times that amount.
The proposed gas tax increase will raise funds to address the problem, but it won't address it fully, according to Clark.
The funds could also help improve transit routes and times. Both require a capital commitment.
Fraser Valley mayors were not interested in having their communities join Translink when that group recently went through some restructuring, said Mission Mayor James Atebe, but we wanted to do a study for the entire valley to identify priorities for the next 20-30 years.
The province and the Fraser Valley Regional District have put money on the table for a comprehensive transit study, which should be completed next year, noted Atebe.
"We know we need to improve inter-community travel, from Mission to Abbotsford, or Mission to Chilliwack ... We need to connect better."
The cities also considered using property taxes to meet the current transit needs, but found the amount was too large, Atebe added. "It's not sustainable to keep going to property taxes to raise funds."
All the funds collected from the gas tax will remain in the Fraser Valley.
"A decision has not been made," Atebe stressed.
Mission council is in support of examining the issue further. The new tax, if approved, could come into effect in 2010.
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