Tantramar council has its regular monthly meeting next Tuesday evening, and a proposal for a program to install 27 LED street lights at rural intersections is expected back on the agenda.
The 27 new lights would cost just shy of $11,000 per year to run, and about $6,000 for one time installation costs.
Public works director Jon Eppell hasn’t made a recommendation either way on the idea of installing the lights, because an engineering analysis of factors like road geometry and number of nighttime collisions concluded the lights were not warranted.
But some councillors have still expressed interest in pursuing the lighting.
Councillor Barry Hicks, Deputy Mayor Matt Estabrooks, Councillor Mike Tower and Mayor Andrew Black all expressed a desire to bring residents of former LSD areas a tangible benefit, in light of the fact that their property tax rates have gone up significantly since amalgamation.
“The LSDs do deserve something,” said Tower at council’s June 23 committee of the whole meeting. “And for us to step forward now to give them some improvements is what we should do. I think it’s a proper thing to do.”
But it turns out that extending the streetlight program into more rural areas would be an additional cost for rural residents.
Treasurer Michael Beal explained to council that street lights are part of the transportation budget and therefore not a shared service covered by the shared portion of the Tantramar budget. Rather, current streetlight costs for Sackville and Dorchester are only covered by taxpayers in Sackville and Dorchester. If the program were to expand into former LSDs, then taxpayers in LSDs would eventually have to absorb the annual cost of their new lights. Beal has predicted the annual cost could be covered by a rate increase of .5 or one cent.
That didn’t convince Councillor Barry Hicks. “I feel that this should be done sooner rather than later, and I don’t agree with raising taxes one cent on it,” said Hicks on June 23. “We’ve already raised 10 cents and spent nothing in LSDs yet.”
Deputy Mayor Matt Estabooks agreed. “We’re hearing this in our areas, from our constituents,” said Estabrooks. “I know we’re kind of off the script and and things weren’t planned, but I feel it’s important. And, I also think we need to figure out another way to fund this… instead of raising taxes.”
Even if council approves the new rural streetlight program, the additional .5 to one cent raise in taxes won’t affect LSD residents for a few more years. That’s because former LSD areas are currently on a schedule of five cent tax rate increases each year as a result of amalgamation, until their rates for shared services come into line with what’s already paid by Sackville and Dorchester residents.
Tantramar council meets on Tuesday evening next week, and rural streetlighting is expected to be on the agenda, awaiting a motion from council.
