City council took a small step towards implementing a tax on gas to pay for road rehabilitation on Monday night when Mayor Shari Green was given authority to write a letter to the provincial government asking how such a tax could be realized.
Municipalities currently do not have the power to enact such a tax and gaining that power would require a change to provincial legislation.
A fuel tax is one of the key pieces of a seven-point plan Coun. Brisn Skakun is proposing to deal with the $3.5-million shortfall in spending staff says the city needs to meet to maintain the roads in Prince George.
Skakun's proposals drew plenty of discussion - more than two hours worth - and some debate, particularly when Skakun suggested a fuel tax could replace that portion of the property tax dedicated to road rehabilitation.
"I've talked to a number of businesses that said 'yes, if I could have that road rehabilitation reserve taken off my property taxes, that would definitely be of benefit to me,'" Skakun said.
Noting that was not included in Skakun's proposal, Coun. Dave Wilbur said he was shocked and annoyed by Skakun's statement and questioned the realism of the move given how much that needs to be raised.
And Coun. Cameron Stolz said what would likely be a three-cent per litre tax to raise enough money would have to be doubled to six cents if the property tax was removed.
Skakun said the goal is a user-pay tax dedicated to raising money for the city's roads.
"We have people that come in from the regional district that use our roads every day that do not pay our road tax," Skakun said. "This is about sharing."
Councillors were also at odds over whether to conduct a public survey with some suggesting staff already has enough work to do and that the question be included in UNBC's annual quality of life survey.
Wilbur argued for a more strongly worded letter from Green.
"We should find the political courage to support the local gas tax or not," he said. "Not go a little bit along the way...as far as I'm concerned it's a little bit disingenuous of us to ask the provincial government for the power to impose a gas tax when we're not sure we want it."
Most of Skakun's other suggestions were either referred to the finance and audit committee or were left for the core review process to consider. They included putting city land up for sale, dedicating more money from the Terasen Gas lease-in, lease out agreement to the task,
Council's resolution committee will draft a resolution calling for a larger share of the provincial gas tax for the purpose and staff will include an assessment of extended warrantees for paving work in the city in an upcoming presentation to council.
Council did make a move towards a shorter-term solution when they endorsed Coun. Lyn Hall's motion to ask staff to find up to $1 million from other reserves to add more projects to this year's list in time for the June 11 meeting.
