MOOSE JAW – A tied vote in Moose Jaw city council means there won’t be a referendum on whether or not to use a controversial funding model on the civic election ballot; at least not yet.
Citizens Advocating Sensible Taxation (CAST) officially launched their petition on Friday to get cast iron water main replacement on the October 26, 2016 ballot.
Their question is: “That the City of Moose Jaw’s replacement of water and sewer mains be funded from general city-wide revenues and/or the reserve funds, and not from LIP special assessments.”
On April 25th, city council approved using a Local Improvement Program (LIP) funding model to pay for the much needed replacement in a 4-3 vote.
Moose Jaw has about 80 kilometres of cast iron water mains aged 80 to 100 years. Both sides agree they need to be replaced, but the LIP funding model sparked the controversy.
Through LIP the city pays 70 per cent of the bill, and affected property owners are on the hook for the remaining 30 per cent. The cost is estimated at $566 per frontage foot.
CAST says attendance at their organizing meetings has been growing, and they’ll use that volunteer base to get the word out about their petition.
“We need lots of people to go door to door and get signatures, and 3,500’s our minimum. If we can get 6 or 7,000 it’ll be a clear message to council that there is a problem and people are trying to solve it,” CAST board member Ian Clothier explained.
They have divided the Friendly City into 13 districts that canvassers will be covering to gather signatures. Copies will also be available to sign at about a dozen businesses, including Maple Leaf Bakery, the regional library, and Harry’s Fine Foods.
CAST has until July 1 to submit the petition with signatures from at least 10 per cent of the population for it to be included as a referendum on the civic election ballot.
If they miss the deadline a referendum can still happen, but it would cost the city approximately $100,000 to hold a separate referendum.
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