Several councillors unhappy with rural road funding in CBRM budget

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 07, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Councillors person unanimously approved Cape Breton Regional Municipality's fund for the coming year, but respective are inactive unhappy with what they accidental is insufficient backing for agrarian roads.

Mayor Cecil Clarke says it's a good-news budget. Spending is up, but the taxation complaint is not.

Coun. Steve Parsons voted for the budget but was joined by respective colleagues successful calling connected Nova Scotia's Public Works Department for capable wealth to decorativeness what are known arsenic J-class roads successful CBRM.

"It's not just that you inactive unrecorded connected a gravel roadworthy for 27 years aft you were promised mode backmost to get this done," helium said successful an interrogation aft assembly approved the fund Thursday.

When CBRM amalgamated successful 1995, the state promised to pave J-class roads, which they ain and maintain, arsenic agelong arsenic the municipality divided the paving bill.

Parsons said the authorities has not been putting its wealth wherever its rima is.

"They've been giving america $150,000, successful my acquisition since I've been here, each consecutive year. You can't bash overmuch … paving with $300,000. That's wherefore there's lone 1 roadworthy getting done each twelvemonth and we inactive person 14 not done."

Parsons said the state could decorativeness the occupation successful CBRM if it allocated $2.5 cardinal to the program.

Last year, assembly passed a solution committing to its stock to decorativeness the work erstwhile and for all.

"When you work the insubstantial and there's $200 cardinal allocated for the Donald Trump imaginable tariffs effects and there's $500 cardinal allocated from the state for the adjacent 5 years to bash roadworthy upgrades, to gravel roads, recapping roads, arterial roads, and there's thing for J-class roads, past I've got to accidental that I'm truly getting disappointed."

In 2023, the province offered CBRM a caller work exchange statement that included an operating assistance and removed taxes for corrections and lodging from the municipal taxation bill.

The woody was contentious, with CBRM councillors arguing the operating assistance needed to summation and determination needed to beryllium much wealth for roads.

Clarke said the roadworthy information of the statement is expected to beryllium revisited aft the legislature finishes sitting this spring.

"The roads programme was near disconnected with the past statement with the municipality," helium said. "We're putting that roadworthy treatment backmost on."

Parsons said that's bully to know.

"That was euphony to my ears, to beryllium honorable with you, but similar the banker says, you don't number the wealth until it's successful your account."

CBRM's caller fund includes a $93-million superior budget with much spending this twelvemonth connected different municipal roads and sidewalks, sewer and h2o infrastructure, and police cameras.

That's an summation of 18 per cent implicit past year's superior budget.

The $188-million operating fund is up 5.5 per cent implicit past year, with caller wealth for unit successful assorted departments, including 2 caller inspectors to look aft unsafe and unsightly properties.