A local fuel tax may be the solution to the city's crumbling roads, according to city councillor Brian Skakun.
Skakun said he'd like to see the possibility of a local tax on gasoline and diesel fuel included in the city's core service review, currently underway.
"I'm just putting the question out there. If the community doesn't want it, we won't do it," Skakun said. "[But] it's a way of of looking at a user pay tax for those who use the roads."
Currently the city has five of the top 10 roads nominated for the B.C. Automobile Association's worst road in B.C. for 2012, Skakun said.
City council approved a road maintenance budget of $3.57 million for 2012, approximately half of what city staff estimates is needed to keep up with the degradation of the city's roads.
"I don't think just blaming it on the freeze-thaw cycle is going to cut it anymore," Skakun said.
Skakun said a tax of one or two cents per litre of fuel sold at local gas stations could be allocated directly to the city's road maintenance budget. Municipalities in the Metro Vancouver area charge $0.15 per litre of fuel, which is used to fund the TransLink public transit system.
The City of Victoria has a 3.5 cents per litre transit tax, which is used to fund public transit in the city.
A greenhouse gas inventory of the city developed by the provincial government estimated 108.4 million litres of gasoline and 59 million litres of diesel was consumed in the city in 2007.
Based on those numbers, a one-cent-per-litre tax would generate approximately $1.67 million per year for the city. A two-cent-per-litre tax would bring the city approximately $3.35 million per year.
Skakun said he's heard a mixed reaction from the community: some strongly opposed to a new tax, while others would pay the tax if it would mean better roads.
Ideally, the city would receive a portion of the fuel tax charged by the provincial or federal government, Skakun added.
Skakun said he hopes to bring the concept forward to his city council colleagues as soon as possible.
Mayor Shari Green said she's spoken with Skakun about the concept.
"Currently it would require a legislative change at the provincial level, and I don't know the provincial appetite to do that," Green said. "[But] users of the roads should pay for their maintenance, and looking for other sources beyond property tax is something we should talk about further."
