The last-minute choice by Metro Vancouver mayors to boost the gas tax by 1½ cents per litre to fund the next phase of TransLink expansion is another blow to affordability.
However, mayors should not take the blame for this. The level of government foisting this tax on drivers, who already pay more for fuel than anywhere else in North America, is the NDP provincial government headed by Premier John Horgan.
The approval of Phase 2 of the TransLink 10-year plan came Thursday at a joint meeting of the TransLink board and the Mayors’ Council.
The various projects in this plan – including the LRT line between Newton and Guildford – have long been trumpeted by civic leaders, and would have moved ahead more quickly had a half-cent increase in sales tax in Metro Vancouver been approved by voters in 2015. Its defeat caused a lot of scrambling for funding sources.
Horgan, in particular, deserves credit for boosting the provincial share to 40 per cent. The BC Liberals had offered 33 per cent, but the federal government boosted its contribution to 40 per cent. Horgan followed suit. That political shift was instrumental in getting Phase 2 funding to the finish line.
However, Horgan’s government could easily have avoided asking drivers to pay another 1½ cents at the pumps. His government boosted the carbon tax on April 1, and it is no longer revenue-neutral; it could have assigned that additional revenue, within Metro, to TransLink.
The fact that it did not shows that Horgan’s vow to make life more affordable for working people does not apply to drivers. Yes, bridge tolls have come off, but gas prices have risen dramatically. A small part of those increases are due to the additional carbon tax.
Mayors were only made aware the day before Thursday’s vote of the plan to boost gas taxes. The lack of public notice is unconscionable, and is likely due to political calculations by people in Horgan’s office who know that people aren’t paying attention as the first long weekend of summer approaches.
An increase in gas taxes to fund transit is dumb for another reason. Such revenue has become a less reliable source of income. This drop from expected levels first occurred when mayors last boosted the tax to 17 cents a litre to help pay for the Evergreen Line extension.
If this was due solely to people driving less, that would be a good thing. However, much is due to people driving further and filling their tanks in the Fraser Valley, where there is no such tax, and in the U.S. That means all that TransLink gas tax revenue goes away.
This is a classic example of political manipulation and poor policy-making, all in the name of better transportation.
The five leaders who voted against this deserve credit for seeing through this manipulation. It’s too bad that retiring mayors Linda Hepner and Wayne Baldwin were taken in.
If wages were going up and housing costs were easing, this tax increase would be acceptable. Under current conditions, it’s not.
Frank Bucholtz writes Wednesdays for Peace Arch News, as well as at frankbucholtz.blogspot.ca – email frank.bucholtz@gmail.com