Area mayors say they simply can’t impose higher taxes – including a higher gas tax or a vehicle levy – to bail out TransLink.
And they plan to take that message to transportation minister Kevin Falcon.
“There’s no appetite to go back to the residents and raise taxes,” said Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts.
She chairs the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation and said the group has asked her to press Falcon over TransLink’s need for more funding from senior governments.
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Just a reflection here…this is not a matter of “bailing out TransLink,” it’s about finding the money to get the improvements done and, as importantly, to pay the ever increasing operating costs.
Ultimately, TransLink will do what is necessary to ensure the budget is balanced, and in the absence of the revenue, that means service cuts.
Jeff Nagel has once again demonstrated a very clear grasp of the issue.