Thread by @troypavlek

We're talking a lot about cost increases in #yeg from 2006 to 2016. I want to share some numbers associated with physical growth in that period.

Time for a math thread #yegcc

Since 2006 developed land has increased by 8,500 hectares. And that's from agricultural/reserved land. No roads, schools, services.

A May 2011 report from the city of Edmonton pits the annual operational cost per hectare AFTER neighbourhood completion (that is all capital and operational costs for service installation done with) at $56,772 per hectare.

Of course, these new developments bring in new taxes. But, after all taxes (residential and commerical), user fees and 30-year-renewal costs are accounted for each of these new developments costs general revenue $35,857 per hectare.

That means, in 2017 we are LOSING $304M every year just to pay for the shortfall of development in the past ten years.

That's 12% of our budget.

You want a zero percent increase? What about a 10% CUT? Freeze all expansion and develop brownfield sites and we can get there.

But instead, we're investing provincial money expanding the Henday to support increased traffic to the far fringes of our city when we annex more land.

We're developmental addicts, demanding our next fix, but @DavidStaplesYEG is out of money and wants free product.

Big numbers can be hard to understand.

Every year we're going to install ten more funiculars and ten bike grids the size of the downtown one. That's how much we're paying annually so people in Rutherford and Summerside can live in single family homes.