Barrie has an annual infrastructure deficit for the renewal and replacement of city roads, pipes and buildings of $40 million.
“A shortage of funding corresponds to a reduction in level of service,” said Kelly Oakley, the city’s manager of corporate asset management. “That means service interruptions like water-main breaks, sewer repairs or roads in poor condition."
Earlier this week, the Financial Accountability Office (FAO), Ontario’s fiscal watchdog, estimated that 45 per cent of municipal or local government infrastructure needs repairing — at a cost of about $52 billion. The office looked at the condition of municipal infrastructure and costs, as of last year, to keep assets in good repair. Its report evaluated roads, buildings and facilities, sewer, potable water, bridges and culvert infrastructure.
An infrastructure deficit or shortfall is the difference between what a municipality needs to spend renewing and replacing its roads, pipes and buildings, and what it actually does spend.
“Based on renewal/replacement needs only, in January we estimated at around $40 million per year,” Oakley said. “The number would be larger if we consider growth and operating investment needs.”
She said the transportation asset deficit stands at $5.8 million, for example, and storm-water assets at $3.8 million. New numbers for water and wastewater will be presented to city council in the next month or two, Oakley said, and new facilities and fleet numbers will come as staff updates its other asset management plans.
The city deals with its infrastructure deficit in a variety of ways. Council has a one per cent dedicated infrastructure renewal fund; its cost is added to property taxes annually. The funding is used to replace and renew the city’s roads, pipes and buildings. It’s normally worth about $2.5 million annually, although the percentage was cut to 0.25 this year, or $625,000, to keep taxes low in a pandemic year.
“(It’s) to help bridge the gap between the municipal money available and the money needed to keep all of the city's infrastructure in good repair,” Oakley said. “However, additional funding resources are needed to properly close the gap.”
She mentioned the proposed storm-water climate action fund, which would serve as funding dedicated to storm-water management.
Oakley also said that through asset management programs, the city focuses on developing the most cost-effective approaches to manage Barrie’s infrastructure.
“The city is also collecting information about the condition of our assets, and using this and risk to prioritize where we do invest, so that we can mitigate the highest risks with the limited funding available,” she said.
Other measures include continuing to adjust the timing of growth and upgrade projects, and emphasizing road preservation activities such as the road resurfacing and crack sealing programs — as preservation is the most cost-effective form of road maintenance.
Oakley said other levels of government — federal, provincial — often offer grants, and the city receives funding through the Canada community-building fund, formerly the federal gas-tax fund.
“However, none are specifically tied to infrastructure gaps,” she said.
The FAO says municipal roads make up the largest share of the infrastructure backlog, estimated at $21.1 billion, followed by buildings and facilities at $9.5 billion, sewer at $7.3 billion, potable water at $5.3 billion, and bridges and culverts at $4.3 billion.
But the office also warned that the backlog of infrastructure in need of fixing is likely higher since the data it examined is incomplete, as the condition of about 10 per cent of municipal assets valued at $47 billion is unknown.
It says keeping public infrastructure in good repair is the most cost-effective strategy for managing assets, although that can conflict with other budgetary priorities.
"Postponing repairs raises the risk of service disruption and increases the costs associated with municipal infrastructure over time," the report says.
The FAO estimated the total value of municipal infrastructure evaluated in the report was $484 billion in 2020.
Municipalities have until 2024, under provincial law, to develop detailed inventories on municipal assets like infrastructure, so the FAO compiled data for its report from available sources, such as site inspections or the age of the asset.
The report didn't look at municipalities' fiscal capacity to eliminate the infrastructure backlog or assess current infrastructure against demand or future expansion needs.
It was one of a series of reports from the FAO analyzing the impact of climate change hazards on infrastructure.
