Saint John has $545M of infrastructure needing immediate attention: Report

Saint John has hundreds of millions of infrastructure, such as roads and water mains, that may need repairs or replacing, which reaffirms the "urgent" need for fiscal reform, says Mayor Donna Reardon.

With the new government of Susan Holt taking the reins, Reardon said she is optimistic movement on the issue is on the horizon. 

"I think that right away you're seeing the whole government is looking at and talking about and moving on some of the promises that they made to the public," she said, but the changes need to come fast for Saint John and other municipalities who are struggling to meet their costs.

According to a staff report presented at a recent city finance committee meeting, Saint John's infrastructure has a replacement value of $6.86 billion, with $545-million worth of infrastructure in need of "immediate attention."

WATCH | Saint John mayor optimistic about Holt's promise of tax reform:

$545M worth of worn-out roads, sewers must get immediate attention, says Saint John mayor

11 days ago

Duration 3:40

Hundreds of millions of dollars are needed to repair and replace infrastructure in Saint John — think roads and water mains — that are past their lifespan. Mayor Donna Reardon is hopeful the new provincial government will follow through on fiscal reform to help municipalities keep up with costs.

The large portion of Saint John's infrastructure deficits — assets the city is using that have surpassed their lives — fall under the city's "general fund," which encompasses roads, sidewalks, storm sewers, parks and municipal buildings.

"Roads [are] the number one … People don't think of roads as an asset, but roads are an asset," Reardon said. 

"They need to be looked at annually … they need to be repaired, etcetera. So roads are a big cost. The city of Saint John is large … We have over 600 kilometres of roads."

Currently, 22 per cent of the assets that fall under the general fund are in poor or extremely poor condition, with 14 per cent being considered "high risk," according to the report. 

Not being able to keep up with infrastructure repairs and replacements impacts the city's growth and the community, Reason said.

"Your utilities, your water, sewerage — you don't want to let that go because that's a disaster."  

She pointed to what happened in Calgary earlier this year, after the city's largest water-feeder main ruptured.

"They were out of water and reduced water for weeks … infrastructure in Calgary is not nearly as old as Saint John. When those things happen, they're catastrophic for your community."

Water lines fall under the city's utility fund, which also includes waste water sewers, and water and wastewater facilities, which have a deficit of $368 million. Eleven per cent of these are in poor condition, with nine per cent posing high risk. 

Saint John's infrastructure deficit value is currently higher than both Moncton's and Fredericton's.

Moncton currently has a $230-million infrastructure deficit and Fredericton's is $310 million, according to the cities' communications departments.

A provincewide issue 

A report by Craig Brett, an economics professor at Mount Allison University, and shared by the Union of the Municipalities of New Brunswick, said that in 2023, 80 per cent of municipality's revenues came from property taxes, placing much of the municipal financial burden on residential taxpayers. 

The union's executive director, Dan Murphy, said municipalities face a shortfall of $200 million per year in infrastructure needs. 

"Part of that is operational," he said. "But part of that is also deferred infrastructure that municipalities have been putting off because they just don't have the resources necessary to address — really the fundamental infrastructure that allows us to offer services to our community members and to really prepare for growth like we need to be doing."

The group is pushing for a portion of the harmonized sales tax to be earmarked to municipalities so that their revenue streams are more diversified, which, they say, would alleviate financial pressures on residential property owners and their tenants.  

The Higgs government implemented local governance reforms in 2023, creating or expanding municipalities, and also promised fiscal reform in 2025. 

Fiscal reform changes for 2026

During the election, Holt promised a total reform of the property tax system.

Quispamsis MLA Aaron Kennedy was sworn in as a part of Holt's cabinet as minister for both Local Government and Service New Brunswick, which assesses property taxes. 

"The whole property tax system is something that we are committed to, which is why Premier Holt included the responsibilities for Service New Brunswick under the Local Government portfolio that I am now I'm responsible for," Kennedy said.

While Kennedy has not yet had full briefings on the file, he said the first steps toward fiscal reform would have to start in 2025, with changes in place the following year.

"And certainly not [starting] at the last tail end of 2025. We realize that there is a timeliness to this," he said.

"There is a sense of urgency from both my perspective and our Department of Local Government and from the provincial government's perspective as a whole, and certainly that urgency exists with our municipal partners, as well."