10-year infrastructure costs almost $70M

The city needs to spend around $68 million in the next 10 years to keep up with its infrastructure costs, and will have a shortfall of almost $38 million if addition funds aren’t raised, said city manager Robert Cotterill.

“While we understand that no one wants to pay any more than they have to when it comes to municipal taxes the current demands facing the city in the next few terms of City Council are staggering,” he said, in a report to the city’s executive committee.

The report comes after councillors said last week that the city’s administration had asked for a tax increase to create infrastructure reserves, but hadn’t provided full details on those needs.

The report, set to be discussed tonight by the city’s executive committee, shows the city needs more than $68 million in the next 10 years, including $25 for repairs to the city’s bridges, $15 million for roads and $29 million for city owned facilities.