The $32 Million Question We Can't Ignore

There is a number everyone running for City Council should probably get familiar with.

$30.6 million.

Let's call it $32 million.

That's approximately how much Thunder Bay is short every year when it comes to properly funding the renewal of the infrastructure we already own.

Not new stuff. The stuff we already have.

Roads. Bridges. Water systems. Sewers. Sidewalks. Buildings and the other infrastructure taxpayers have already paid to build and now expect the City to maintain.

The City's Asset Management Plan puts the value of our municipal assets at about $4.9 billion. Right now, we're funding only about 71 percent of what is required annually to maintain current service levels.

Even more concerning, approximately $1.3 billion worth of City assets are considered at high or very high risk of failure.

That's not a problem for another generation of Council to worry about.

That's our problem.

And ignoring infrastructure doesn't save money. It usually makes the eventual repair more expensive.

So what's the solution?

The City's current plan includes increasing the amount collected through the municipal tax levy for capital infrastructure. The proposed increases begin at two percent in 2028, three percent in 2029 and four percent annually beginning in 2030.

Think about that for a minute.

Those increases would be for infrastructure, on top of whatever increases are required to operate the rest of the City.

I understand the mathematics behind the recommendation.

But I don't believe the answer to every financial problem at City Hall can simply be: send the taxpayer a bigger bill.

Before we do that, Council needs to make infrastructure a genuine priority.

That means taking a hard look at everything we own, what we actually need, what we can afford to operate and what may no longer make financial sense.

It means separating needs from wants.

It means asking whether millions being directed toward new projects would be better invested in maintaining the infrastructure we already have.

It means aggressively pursuing provincial and federal infrastructure dollars and continuing to push for new municipal revenue arrangements, including the City's call for a share of existing provincial Land Transfer Tax and GST revenues.

And it means growth.

More homes, businesses and private investment mean a broader assessment base. Growing the tax base is a much healthier long-term strategy than continually asking the same taxpayers to pay more.

There isn't going to be one magic solution to a $32 million annual problem.

It will require spending discipline, better prioritization, outside government funding, economic growth and, yes, probably additional municipal investment.

But taxpayers deserve to know that every other option has been explored before the City reaches deeper into their pockets.

This is exactly the kind of issue the next Council is going to inherit.

The numbers aren't particularly exciting. There won't be many ribbon cuttings for replacing sewer lines.But this is the work municipal government is supposed to do.

Take care of what we own. Fix problems before they become emergencies.

Make the difficult choices. And perhaps most importantly, stop leaving tomorrow's taxpayers the bill for decisions we weren't prepared to make today.

That's how we start closing the $32 million gap.