Potential vehicle levy in Metro Vancouver would be a full circle for B.C.'s transportation minister

Every few years, a cycle repeats itself in Metro Vancouver politics. 

TransLink or local mayors suggest transit should be funded in a different way than in the past, be it a PST hike, a mobility pricing scheme, or some other arrangement. 

Studies are commissioned, debates are had, but eventually, either the province, local politicians or the public vote it down. 

The next debate has officially begun — and this time, mayors are hopeful a change could actually happen. 

"We have to be bold and courageous and move quickly if we want to avoid the repetitive nature of every two or three years having a panic and trying to come to a Band-Aid agreement," said Port Coquitlam Mayor and Mayors' Council Chair Brad West. 

He made his remarks at a meeting where TransLink approved its latest "Band-Aid agreement": a three-year funding plan based on a combination of increased fares and parking fees, a $20 median increase to property taxes, and an extra $100 million in funding annually from the province. 

The province has committed to a different financial model by the end of 2027 to replace the current hodgepodge of property and gas tax revenues, along with government subsidies that make up the bulk of TransLink's non-fare funding. 

But in background conversations with local and regional leaders with input and influence in TransLink, one option comes up again and again as the anticipated compromise: an annual levy placed on every insured vehicle, similar to a system in place to fund Montreal transit. 

Here's why

There are only so many ways a government body can raise money, and many of them already seem off the table for TransLink.

A decade ago, voters rejected an increase to the provincial sales tax in Metro Vancouver, and there is no appetite among local politicians to revive that pitch to the public.

The NDP has made its removal of tolls on the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges in 2017 a central part of party identity, campaigning on it as recently as last year's provincial election.

As for the idea of putting a fee on entering certain areas of Metro Vancouver, often known as a mobility tax or congestion pricing?

When asked about it on Wednesday after TransLink's meeting, Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth was about as emphatic as a politician can be. 

"We are not doing road pricing in the province of British Columbia," he said, pausing after each word for dramatic effect. 

"We have said that previously. The premier has said it. I am saying it."

So that's a no, then. 

'People were already paying enough'

But when asked by CBC News in the same conversation if he would rule out a vehicle levy, Farnworth was more circumspect.

"We're going to look at a variety of options to see what would be the best fit, and what would work and be the most efficient," he said. 

A vehicle levy has been floated as an appealing option due to its predictable annual revenue, and potential simplicity — because the cost for each vehicle could be the same.

At the same time, it would be an ironic full circle for Farnworth, who was responsible for rejecting the proposed vehicle tax TransLink asked for in 2001 back when he was a young minister under the old NDP government and the transit organization was brand new and figuring out how to have a more stable source of revenue. 

As he explained in a 2016 interview for an SFU master's student's thesis, the argument against it was one of affordability.

"At that time, levels of taxation in this province were very much an issue of discussion," he said. 

"People were already paying enough — that would be the prevailing attitude." 

Back then, the plan was to charge every licensed vehicle between $40 and $120 a year, based on its weight. Today, if TransLink wanted to completely replace the revenue from the 18.5-cent-a-litre gas tax, a levy would need to be more than $200 a year.

Of course, that's a hypothetical business model, one that's a year or two down the road. 

But two things are clear: the province has committed to proposing a new model, and another big debate over transit funding is coming. 

"That is an important conversation that we have to have with the public," said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn. "We need a more sustainable funding model."

And when the day for that conversation comes, TransLink hopes all levels of government will be more willing to move forward than Farnworth was 24 years ago.