We can afford it
The City’s smart financial management means we can build the PAC while maintaining and improving existing services, everything from police and fire to snow removal and recreational programming. This means no one’s taxes will go up to pay for the new PAC.
We've planned for it.
The City’s long-term financial plan provides for a major capital building project every 4 years, but we haven’t built one in 12 years. Much-loved community institutions like the Grant Harvey and Willie O’Ree facilities as well as the Fredericton Convention Centre were all built thanks to this smart planning.
We can still do other big things.
The City’s finances are in excellent shape thanks to years of smart management and restraint. This means we have the flexibility to take on other big projects even as we build the PAC. Park development, water and sewer upgrades, major paving developments – everything stays on the table.
We’re not going it alone.
The City is only one of the partners on the PAC project: the Federal government has come on board to share the cost and the Fredericton Playhouse Inc is also leading a major fundraising campaign with the goal of contributing $8M to the project.
We’ve been smart about debt.
The City keeps our debt ratio very low. Provincial legislation allows us to borrow up to 20% of our total budget every year, but we have a self-imposed ceiling of 8% and, currently, our debt is approximately 4%. Borrowing an additional $24M (at worst), still only brings our debt up to 5% of our total budget. Carrying much less debt than other cities means a larger share of Fredericton’s budget can be spent on services and projects residents want and not on massive interest payments. Fredericton has a net surplus of $18M compared to Moncton’s $60M and Saint John’s $159M net debt.
We’ve been strategic on design.
The City adopted a value engineering process to keep costs down. An analysis of the building’s proposed features, systems, equipment, and materials ensure that the costs are as low as possible while still ensuring quality, reliability and safety.
We’ve ensured a better deal for our residents than other municipalities building major projects.
The City would be paying 31% of the total cost if we borrow the full $24M. Compare that to recent major projects:
- Caraquet Centre régional des générations (sports complex) : $25M ($10M escalation, $7M paid by Caraquet, 28%) pop. 4,285
- Moncton Avenir Centre and Plaza: $113M ($22M escalation before pandemic, $50M paid by Moncton, 44%) pop. 79,470
- Miramichi sports and wellness complex: $67M ($9M escalation so far, Miramichi paying $37M, 55%) pop.17,692
- Riverview $40M ($7M escalation, Riverview paying $14M, 35%) pop. 20,584
