Pools, potholes and pennies

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/05/2024 (535 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Potholes and pools have more in common than you might think, at first blush.

Yes, they both can hold water, and, during Winnipeg springs, a duck may be as happy in one as the other.

But beyond jokes — damaged suspensions and closing recreation centres are not so funny — they suffer from the same root cause: lack of maintenance.

Taxpayers deserve better.

The answer, however, is not to move around more pennies. I say ‘pennies’ because, for the size of the problem, that’s what Winnipeg has to play with: mere cents on the dollar.

First, potholes and pools are just the most obvious illustration of the fiscal problem all cities face when it comes to maintaining public infrastructure.

For example, Winnipeg’s infrastructure investment deficit — the cost to maintain and build required streets, alleys, sewer and water, recreation facilities, city buildings and bridges in the next 10 years — is $6.8 billion. Of that, streets and bridges comprise $3 billion; community services, where rec centres fall, need $843 million of investment.

This is why your back lane has not seen work for decades. It is why city council during budget deliberations, put Happyland, Eldon Ross and Windsor Park pools on closure notice. It is why driving or cycling down far too many Winnipeg streets this spring is an invitation to blown tires, bent rims or personal injury. Vehicle damage claims as a result of potholes, by March, were more than double the 701 claims to MPI same time last year.

There just isn’t enough money.

Winnipeg, like all cities, gets 10 cents of every tax dollar collected. The provinces and federal governments keep the rest.

Yet, municipalities own 50 to 60 per cent of public infrastructure. Current funding deals share only costs of construction, not life-cycle costs. But it is regular maintenance where the majority of costs reside.

So, maintenance is chronically delayed; repairs to streets, bridges, community facilities (many now past their best-before dates) are repeatedly kicked down the road.

And it’s why Winnipeg, home to 62 per cent of the provincial population and 64 per cent of its economy, is forced to go, cap in hand, to the steps of Broadway each year, for help via funding transfers.

There has to be a new fiscal deal that recognizes the inequity in this turn-of-the-century fiscal arrangement that is handcuffing municipalities, so cities can maintain infrastructure, provide modern cultural and recreational amenities, build the infrastructure needed for growing populations and attract new investment.

That new fiscal deal should consider expanding the sources of revenue generation for cities. Provinces and Ottawa see their revenues grow with the economy, through income, corporate or sales taxes.

Cities, though, are forced to rely too heavily upon property taxes to raise cash.

A new fiscal deal should rebalance service responsibilities including the appropriate sharing of revenues, giving cities access to taxation authority directly generated from growth (for example, retail sales).

But it doesn’t stop there.

Winnipeg city council should put economic growth at the heart of all its development strategies, including OurWinnipeg, the transportation master plan, and the strategic priorities action plan.

And to ensure all departments focus on economic growth, including budget priority planning, Winnipeg should create a chief economic development officer, reporting through the chief administrative officer to the mayor, and a council committee responsible for policies to grow the economy.

Frankly, only with a demonstrated commitment to economic growth can Winnipeg credibly approach Manitoba as an equal partner in advancing common economic and social interests.

Without a new fiscal deal, the city will simply continue to cut from one program budget line to fund another.

That is not the way to build a great city.

We need to talk about building greatness, not squeezing more pennies from property taxes.

We need to unshackle municipalities with a new fiscal deal so they can invest in economic growth.

Chris Lorenc is president and CEO of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association.