Last night the Township of Langley's 2012 budget was presented to Township Council for first, second, and third reading. The major highlights of the budget included the addition of 8 new firefighters and additional RCMP. To offset the added cost of these new positions about $1 million was cut from other parts of the budget. The total taxes in the Township will be going up 2.95% which isn't that bad. According to the budget report besides new protective services, there are "minimal service enhancements."
One of the interesting things about the Township if that about 61% of tax revenue comes from residential property which is encouraging because it means that the Township is not a bedroom community for the rest of Vancouver. In fact, communities that only rely on residential property tax usually find themselves in a bind because residential property taxes alone can never reasonably pay for the services required especially in growing communities. The more businesses in a community, the better.
Spending on water infrastructure at $39m in 2012 is the largest capital expenditure in the Township of Langley. The Township's total capital budget is $154m. The transportation capital budget is $37m of which TransLink is contributing $4m.
Large Capital Projects
Aldergrove Pool $15m
(Mufford) 64 Ave; 204 St To Glover Rd $9m
(Mufford) 64 Ave Mufford Rail Overpass $2m
56Ave and Nicomekl; Bridge Reconstruction $5m
Fraser Hwy Widening: Old Yale to 215 Street $2.6m
228 St to 235 St; Fraser Hwy Widening $6m
The largest capital project in the Township is the upgrade of the 216St; 56Ave-65Ave; Watermain for $17.6m. On a side note, Metro Vancouver is also in the process of upgrading aging water infrastructure and in the coming years that part of your tax is going to jump up quite a bit.
On another side note, I saw a line item for cycling called "Bicycle Route Improvements" which is budgeted for $8,500.
1 comment:
It might be good to note that all the borrowing by the Township for these water and infrastructure projects get repaid from the collection of Developer Cost Charges (DCC's). So, when people complain about development happening and how the "growth" is not paying for itself, one should examine this fact. The development in Willoughby is paying for much needed infrastructure in Aldergrove. Not a bad deal.
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