METRO VANCOUVER - The cost of services in Metro Vancouver will climb 44 per cent over the next five years as taxpayers pay the price for clear air and water, sewer services, parks and garbage collection.

A Metro Vancouver finance report shows the annual cost per average $600,000 household in the region is expected to rise from $513 today to $740 by 2016, as the regional district builds and maintains infrastructure for water, sewer and garbage services.

The $800-million Seymour-Capilano water filtration plant, planned upgrades to the Iona and Lions Gate sewage treatment plants and garbage recycling costs all add to the increase.

Malcolm Brodie, Metro’s finance committee chairman and Richmond’s mayor, called for senior levels of government to help foot the bill for the projects, noting that municipalities have been forced to build them even though sources of funding at the local level are limited.

Municipalities only get eight cents of every tax dollar, which is “outdated and unfair,” he said.

“Because of the increasing costs of maintenance, infrastructure and new infrastructure, there are some dramatic increases that may be in the offing in the next decade.”

“It highlights the urgent need for senior levels of government to participate with us to dedicate funding ... For each of the utilities the increase in costs is significant.”

Over the next 10 years, Metro Vancouver plans to spend $2.3 billion on water infrastructure alone, including the Seymour-Capilano plant, an ultraviolet water treatment plant in Coquitlam and new pipes under the Fraser River to increase water capacity to residents south of the river. It’s also calling for $2.2 billion to be spent on sewer services, such as the upgrades of the Iona and Lions Gate sewage treatment plants, which will cost $1.4 billion combined.

Those costs will trickle down to the taxpayer, with water costs set to jump by an average 9.9 per cent over the next five years, from 56 cents per 1,000 litres today to 84 cents in 2016. Sewer services will rise an average 5.5 per cent, going from $170 to $220 for an average home.

Brodie noted senior governments contributed only $150 million to the Seymour-Capilano water plant, despite mandating the project following the Walkerton, Ont. debacle.

“We’re hoping future contributions are far more substantial than that,” he said, referring to the money needed for projects like upgrades to the Iona and Lions Gate sewage treatment plants.

Metro Vancouver chief financial officer Jim Rusnak said Metro is also considering a change to the funding formula for the sewer projects to share the costs throughout the region; at the moment, the burden would fall on Vancouver and the North Shore.

Garbage tipping fees are expected to see one of the biggest jumps, rising from $91 per metric tonne to $205 in 2016 — or even higher if Metro is unable to resolve a dispute with the garbage contractors who now haul trash to the Vancouver and Cache Creek dumps or the Burnaby-based incinerator.

Rusnak said the regional district is hoping to get “some guidance” from the provincial government, which is set to approve Metro’s solid waste management plan. The plan includes a bid to build a $450-million trash incinerator in 2015-16.

Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore said the proposed tax increases will vary across the region. Port Coquitlam, he said, will likely save on garbage costs despite the high tipping fees because it has a high recycling rate. Other cities with metered water rates could save on those costs.

The rising prices for services underscore Metro mayors’ reluctance to increase property taxes to pay for transit service expansion, such as the long-awaited Evergreen Line or extra bus routes in Surrey. The mayors have recommended a two-cents-a-litre gas tax increase, which would boost TransLink’s share of the gas tax from 15 cents to 17 cents next spring, and a potential property tax increase in 2013 to help pay for future projects.

The gas and property tax increases would generate $70 million in revenue. But mayors say they would prefer to use the property tax, which would equate to about a $23 increase for the average homeowner, as a “backstop” form of funding if they can’t get the money they need through measures such as a vehicle levy, road tolls or a carbon tax.

Meanwhile, Rusnak urged the finance committee to look at ways to set money aside for future projects, either through development cost charges or public-private partnerships.

Metro Vancouver prefers to avoid debt as much as possible, and has a pay-as-you-go policy for regional functions, such as parks and air quality. For those services, Metro is proposing an increase in property taxes of 2.5 per cent in 2012, about a $39 increase per homeowner.

ksinoski@vancouversun.com