Moose Jaw voters reject city plan to charge neighbourhood residents for infrastructure repairs
People in Moose Jaw voted for the city to foot the bill for replacing water and sewer mains in the city.
Along with voting for mayor, councillors and school trustees, the election included a referendum on how to pay for replacing its old cast iron water pipes.
Earlier this year, council approved a plan to have 70 per cent of the replacement costs covered by the city and 30 per cent by affected homeowners under a controversial local improvement project.
A petition against the plan gained enough signatures to force the vote.
The referendum's question was worded as, "THAT the City of Moose Jaw's replacement of water and sewer mains be funded from general city-wide revenues and/or reserve funds, and not from local improvement project special assessments."
The unofficial results were:
- For the resolution — 8,361 votes, 79.27 per cent
- Against the resolution — 2,186 votes, 20.73 per cent
Moose Jaw says some of the cast iron pipes are more than 100 years old.
