Two Lunenburg County mayors addressed a business breakfast with different highlights but one common target – roads.
Bridgewater Mayor David Mitchell disagrees with the formula designed for road improvements.
He feels it punishes his town and others across Canada.
“We pay 100 per cent of the cost for our roads with no assistance from any other level of government or any other community, yet we subsidize a part of the $81-million shortfall in maintaining rural roads,” says Mitchell.
“So, we are paying twice for roads.”
Mitchell points to a 2014 report suggesting road responsibility go back to rural municipalities at a cost of over $130-million across the province.
“The reality is that the tax rate that it would increase in rural municiaplities would still create a lower tax rate in those communities then it would be in towns,” says Mitchell.
“But, it would allow towns to reduce their tax rate because they wouldn’t have to subsidize them.”
He says towns are going bankrupt because they’re paying twice for services like roads and feels change will be forced to happen soon.
Meanwhile, MODL Mayor Carolyn Bolivar-Getson echos Mitchell’s thoughts and feels towns could be getting more support.
“I do believe that the province should be funneling money into the towns to maintain their infrastructure when it comes to roads.”
Bolivar-Getson says the municipality is responsible for maintaining roughly 20 kilometres of road.
They also have several kilometres of ‘J-Class’ roads, which are provincially owned and the municipality pays to have them maintained.
Bolivar-Getson says she’s hearing concerns around roads in the municipality and have applied to get many of them fixed this year.
Reported by: Nick Yorston
Twitter: @NickYorston
E-mail: yorston.nick@radioabl.ca
