New report pegs Thunder Bay's infrastructure deficit at $32M

The City of Thunder Bay is not spending enough to maintain its assets and infrastructure, a new report shows.

The new asset management report, scheduled to be presented to city council on Monday, shows the city's current annual infrastructure deficit is nearly $32 million. The infrastructure deficit is, essentially, the cost to maintain infrastructure when compared to available resources.

The report breaks down the $32-million infrastructure gap further, to individual infrastructure and asset classes, as well:

"It is incredibly simplistic to point to just one thing," Current River Coun. Andrew Foulds said about the infrastructure deficit. "I believe that it is a number of things, including things like provincial downloading."

He said Thunder Bay's infrastructure deficit is made worse by the city's geographic footprint, which is the same size as bigger cities, but with significantly lower population. 

The climate in northwestern Ontario plays a role, too, Foulds said.

"It is tough on our infrastructure," he said. "That kind of maintenance, repair and replace cycle is different than it is in other places."

"So I don't think there's one thing you can point to. It's sort of an accumulation of a number of different challenges."

In any case, Foulds said the new report will help council make more-informed decisions about infrastructure and asset maintenance.

"Now that we've done this body of work, now that we've got the data, we can make the argument to the public about the investment, but we could also make the argument to other orders of government because they will see that we've done our homework and our needs," Foulds said.

"The other way to reduce the infrastructure gap is to in fact build better," he said. "If we can continue to intensify and build on in existing infrastructure, we will of course increase our tax revenue, not build any more infrastructure, and be able to revenue to invest in the existing infrastructure."

Thunder Bay Mayor Ken Boshcoff said the city needs to take a systematic approach to the deficit, and make it easier for development to take place.

"It is basically a circular, self-fulfilling economic program," he said. "If you invest then people will come, they will pay their taxes and support the debenture over a period of time, and we will be healthy, strong and prosperous."

Boshcoff said the infrastructure deficit was one of the reasons he ran for mayor in the last election.