A large portion of the money the Region of Waterloo is putting toward light rail transit will be borrowed.
A staff report presented to regional councillors Tuesday shows that of the region’s $253-million share of the $818-million LRT project, up to $120 million will be borrowed cash.
“Are we borrowing ($100 million or $120 million)? We don’t know that yet. It will depend on when the contract comes in,” says Coun. Jim Wideman.
The region estimates that it will cost $4 million to finance its share of the project. The borrowed money will be paid back over 30 years.
Harald Drewitz, a self-appointed taxpayer watchdog, says that information should have been made public before the LRT was approved.
“The region and the committees involved should have been upfront with the citizens,” he says.
While some have suggested the final bill for LRT will stretch past the $1-billion mark, Wideman says there is absolutely no evidence of that being the case.
“I don’t know what they base that on, because right now we are on buget,” he tells CTV.
“It appears that on the purchase of our cars as an example, we will be well under budget.”
Following another aspect of the report Tuesday, councillors approved a $200,000 payout to the two finalist consortiums who do not land the contract to build the LRT system.
Most large-scale transportation and infrastructure projects include similar payouts, often for higher amounts.
