The North Shore will end up paying more to flush toilets in the future following a recent vote of Metro Vancouver directors.
A number of other Lower Mainland politicians refused to approve sharing 70 per cent of the full costs of the new Lions Gate sewage treatment plant across the region.
The cost of the project is estimated at up to $700 million.
Instead, under the funding formula approved by politicians, North Shore taxpayers alone will have to pay for the first $75 million of the project, designated as going towards primary treatment. The rest of the cost will be split according to formula recommended by staff, with the region as a whole paying 70 per cent of the costs, while the North Shore pays the remaining 30 per cent.
In a worst-case scenario, that could see sewage bills for homeowners double or even triple on the North Shore by 2030.
Local government leaders describe that as an extraordinary financial pressure facing
local taxpayers.
The critical issue remains how much money both federal and provincial governments will be willing to contribute towards the project, said District of North Vancouver Mayor Richard Walton.
Historically, similar large infrastructure projects have relied on Ottawa coming up with about one-third of the costs, while the provincial government has paid another third.
Walton said securing that will require some dedicated lobbying on the part of the North Shore's two MPs.
"They would be happier if the numbers were smaller," he said, but added, "The numbers are driven by federal legislation. It's the federal government that has said we have to do that."
The regional government has until 2020 to get a new secondary treatment plant on the North Shore up and running, in order to meet current environmental regulations. Vancouver's Iona sewage plant must also be upgraded soon after.
Darrell Mussatto, mayor of the City of North Vancouver and chairman of Metro Vancouver's utilities committee, said he has no reason to think funding won't be coming from senior governments.
Informally, "We've heard from the feds and the province that they're going to cost share," said Mussatto. "The challenge is how much?" Both Mussatto and Walton said if funding wasn't available to cover the traditional two-thirds of the cost, Metro Vancouver may have to consider putting the project on hold.
"It's too big of a hit," said Mussatto.
Walton said the North Shore faces unique challenges because of the small population base paying for the treatment plant compared to other plants in areas like the Fraser Valley, where costs are spread among a population base two to four times larger.
Metro politicians also recently approved a preliminary design for the North Shore's new sewage treatment plant, which will include a "state of the art" odour containment system and generate electricity from methane gas.
