Fundy LSDs asked to share arena costs for surrounding area

A plan to better distribute ice rink costs among taxpayers in the greater Saint John area is approaching its deciding moments.

The five municipalities and 10 local service districts [LSDs] that make up the Fundy Regional Service Commission are being asked to come up with a formula to collectively fund the area's 10 municipal ice rinks.

Saint John, Grand Bay-Westfield and St. Martins have all signed on with some conditions, while Quispamsis council will consider the matter on Tuesday evening. And Rothesay has referred the request to a town recreation committee.

It is not clear whether taxpayers in any of those communities — all of which operate their own arenas — would be required to pay more, but any plan could see a property tax increase for thousands of people living in surrounding rural LSDs like Kingston and Simonds.

In a recent case involving LSDs surrounding the city of Fredericton, tax rates for local service districts went up by three cents, resulting in a $30 dollar increase to the annual property tax bill for a home assessed at $100,000.

Local service districts are unincorporated rural areas with elected advisory councils that have no real authority. In the case of such communities the ultimate decisions rest with the province's Minister of Environment and Local Government.

All communities must benefit

Jeff Carr, who was appointed earlier this month by Premier Blaine Higgs, can choose to accept an advisory council's recommendation, make his own decision, or call for a referendum.

"There has to be a mutual benefit for all communities in this," said Nick Cameron, the Fundy Regional Service Commission's recreation facilitator.

"There are some costs that we need to be up front about, and talk about. But in order to bring our other community partners on board I think we need to start talking about the benefits of a regional funding formula."

The "benefits" in a regional funding model would be significant savings for people living in LSDs who use arena facilities in Saint John or nearby towns where non-resident user fees could otherwise be introduced.

Non-resident fees — known as 'Plan B' in Saint John — could result in hundreds of dollars a year in added up front costs for a family with a child in hockey.

Decision to be made next month

For Saint John Mayor Don Darling, this is the least amount of cooperation the city can ask of its neighbours.

"This is a small opportunity for us to demonstrate a level of regional cooperation. If we can't do it on rinks, boy oh boy, we're in trouble," he said.

Cameron hopes to have decisions from the municipalities in time for the Dec. 10 meeting of the Fundy Service Commission.

He'd like to see a regional ice funding formula in place for the 2020 fiscal year.