Report of civic assets sparks concern

Oct 19, 2020 | 7:22 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Council heard that the City of Prince George is inching closer to $4 billion dollars.

Administration issued a report after conducting what it called a “deep dive” in assessing the local assets.

However, Council also heard that the average age of those assets is 43 years, a concern for those sitting around Council Chambers.

“The average age of those assets is over 40 years old,” emphasized Councillor Garth Frizzell. “We’ve got challenges.” He also noted that local governments get 8 to 10 cents of every tax dollar, while the federal and provincial government take the remainder.

He did note though, that there have been some federal infrastructure programs of late that have helped, and cited the $10 million the City of Prince George recently received for the new pool project. he says the Federation of Canadian Municipalities dedicates a disproportionate amount of time trying to elicit financial aid from the federal government for infrastructure projects in such a fashion that communities are not competing for those dollars.