Fiacco talks infrastructure during Year in Review speech

With no end in sight for the City of Regina’s growth, the cost of keeping up could put a strain on the city’s finances.

Mayor Pat Fiacco took the time on Wednesday to address concerns raised by residents of the Queen City about city infrastructure and the reason behind the proposed utility hikes.

At his Year in Review speech to the business community, Fiacco admitted the city could be in for some growing pains. Council wants to spend about $2 billion on capital projects over the next decade, with most of it unfunded.

“There really isn’t an infrastructure plan from the federal government for 2011, and we haven’t heard a lot from the province either,” Fiacco said. “It just doesn’t look like there is going to be infrastructure money there, as well.”

Most of the city’s money comes from property taxes, but that is stretched thin. Regina residents may also have to offset the cost of an upgraded water treatment facility due to new federal regulations. A proposed 21 per cent increase in their utility bills over the next three years would help that.

“We have no choice,” Fiacco explained. “We have to follow these regulations. As a result, the cost to us will be around $150 to $200 million.”

There is still no word from the province about more funding for the proposed multi-purpose event centre. As a strong supporter of the project, Fiacco says it is “simple economics” and “simple math”.

“When there’s new construction like this, there’s significant amount of jobs being created and a significant amount of tax dollars being generated,” Fiacco said. “As a result, those taxes that are being collected from all of that is an opportunity to reinvested in social programs.”

An international summit will be held in Regina early next year. The goal is to find a better way for infrastructure money to flow to municipalities. Fiacco says he hopes they can find a way to end what he calls a 19th century system to fund 21st century projects.