Lower Mainland mayors and councillors are in duck-and-cover mode over TransLink as their alarm grows that the province is about to impose a new property tax to pay for the latest rapid-transit line.
That's a move they believe will create a huge political backlash, leave cities without money for improving basic services, and kill off any semblance of local control.
"We all have that kind of fear," Port Moody Mayor Joe Trasolini said. "And it would be something that would divide the region and leave a sour taste on future projects."
But he and others say they can't imagine what else the province has in mind, with Transportation Minister Shirley Bond indicating last week she is planning to bring in new legislation in order to ensure there is funding for the $1.4-billion Evergreen Line in Vancouver's northeast communities.
Mr. Trasolini said provincial representatives have been saying for years that they believed the region could put more into transit costs from property taxes.
Local property taxes accounted for about $265-million of TransLink's 2009 budget, with an average house valued at $600,000 being taxed $220 for transit.
"I can't see anything else they can do," Vancouver Councillor Geoff Meggs said.
Last year, the province turned down TransLink's suggestions to put money from the carbon tax toward transit or to create new revenue mechanisms, like tolls, road-use fees, or ICBC charges based on kilometres driven.
North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto said he too can't imagine what other options the province has.
But Mr. Mussatto said if a new tax is imposed, it will be devastating for Lower Mainland municipalities that are all facing budget squeezes and big bills for other items.
"We don't even have hanging flower baskets this year because we don't have the money," Mr. Mussatto said.
"And taxes are already going up significantly because of our new water-filtration plant and a new sewage-treatment plant."
Other mayors also said they're facing tax increases because of utility and road bills.
Besides the money, the political message an imposed tax would send is unmistakable.
"If they're just going to override the mayors' council [at TransLink] then what do we do? Why do we even exist?" Mr. Mussatto said.
Of all the mayors surveyed, only Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart said he actually can't believe that the province would impose a tax.
"It doesn't make a lot of sense to use a poorly targeted tax that funds everything else we have to do already," he said.
If it happened, though, he agreed that it would signal the end of any local control over transportation and he would rather that the province get rid of the pretense.
"I don't want to sit on a mayors' council that does nothing but meet once a month," he said.
The uproar among the mayors arose after Premier Gordon Campbell announced two weeks ago that the Evergreen Line was going to get built according to its original schedule, no matter what. The province has committed $400-million and the federal government $416-million. TransLink is supposed to be putting in $400-million and another $176-million was always pegged as an amount that would come from a private partner.
But TransLink's mayors' council declined to pass a 10-year plan last year with funding for the Evergreen Line, because it would have meant raising property taxes throughout the region to build transit that only serves three communities - a difficult political sell.