Metro Vancouver leaders debate sharing skyrocketing costs of North Shore sewage plant

District of North Vancouver Mayor Mike Little has asked that taxpayers from around the Metro Vancouver region share in paying for skyrocketing costs for the new North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant, saying the $2.8 billion increase is too much for North Shore taxpayers to bear by themselves.

If no help comes from other communities, North Shore households could be looking at a $1,200 annual utility bill, just for sewage costs, he said.So far, however, Metro politicians from around the region have given no guarantees they’ll commit their taxpayers to ponying up extra cash, with some arguing North Shore leaders voted against cost sharing in the past when other communities faced large infrastructure costs.

Other politicians were more sympathetic to the North Shore, with Area A director Jen McCutcheon stressing that the only question politicians need to decide is how to split the ballooning cost increases of the project. North Shore politicians “had no part in this nor did their residents,” she said. Under Metro’s existing cost-sharing plan, North Shore taxpayers will face a potential average tax increase of $725 a year, just for the increase to the sewage plant costs, on top of $464 that homeowners already pay towards sewage treatment. Vancouver homeowners would pay $140 more than their current sewage bill of $432 each year, while taxpayers in other parts of the region would pay $70 or $80 more – up from the $300 they currently pay.

Politicians also broached the broader idea of changing the way communities pay for sewage treatment and moving to a more regional model of shared costs and expenses.

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