地铁项目严重超支 约克区居民将为其买单

 

 

2015年，于人村Heritage Village拆迁风波促使公众呼吁约克区议员加强与民沟通。2016年，多伦多-约克士巴丹拿地铁延伸线项目又被爆超出预算$5.5亿元，在这笔财政负担中约克区至少需要承担$1.6亿元。而在此之前，约克区已经掏出$9200万为超支买单。

 

In 2015, the Heritage Village in Unionville incident brought to the public's attention the need to have better communication from the York Region Councillors. In 2016, it was revealed that the Toronto-York Spadina Subway extension was $550million overbudget and York region had to carry at least $160million of that financial load. Earlier on, York Region already contributed $92million to overruns.

 

在这$5.5亿元中，有$4亿元是用于支付承包商，其余$1.5亿元则是用于在去年重新设立项目并聘请新的承包商。多伦多和约克区已经达成60-40的资金协议，这意味着多伦多必须承担其中的$2.4亿元，而约克区则需负担$1.6亿元，目前尚不清楚其余$1.5亿元由谁负责。

 

Of the $550 million, $400 million is for contractor claims and $150 million was used to reset the project last year and hire a new contractor. There is a 60-40 funding agreement between Toronto and York region. This means that Toronto will have to come up with $240 million, while York Region has to dish out $160 million. It is not yet clear who is on the hook for the remaining $150 million.

 

设有六个车站，全长8.6公里的TTC 1号线（Yonge-University-Spadina地铁线）延伸线将向Downsview Station以北延伸，穿过约克大学直达旺市。该项目由联邦政府、安省政府、多伦多市区和约克区政府共同出资完成。目前省府已拨款$8.7亿元，联邦亦已投资$6.97亿元。该项目最初预算经费为$26亿元，但目前已耗资$31.84亿元并且支出还在继续增加。按照计划，这条地铁延伸线将于2017年12月投入运营。

 

The six-station, 8.6-kilometre extension of the TTC’s Line 1 (Yonge-University-Spadina) will extend from Downsview Station north, through York University, and into Vaughan. The project is being funded by federal and provincial governments, the city and York Region. The province has already contributed $870 million and Ottawa, $697 million. Originally pegged at $2.6 billion, it is now at $3.184 billion and growing. This extension is scheduled to open in December of 2017.

 

 

当该地铁项目在2015年3月超出预算$1.5亿元，从而导致约克区需承担其中的$6000万时，多伦多公车局（TTC）首席执行官Andy Byford曾称他会在2015年底前确定最终的超支总额。约克区政府首席行政官Bruce MacGregor则直截了当地表示“超支本来并非在意料之外”。

 

When the project went over budget by $150 million in March 2015, including York’s share of $60 million, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC's) CEO Andy Byford said he would spend the rest of 2015 determining the final cost overrun tally. York Region's CAO Bruce Macgregor simply said “The overrun was not unexpected”. 

 

约克区议会最终在2016年公布了一份报告概述项目超支造成的财政影响，MacGregor承认地铁项目的额外开支意味着其他交通或运输优先项目的经费将会落空。那么这一资金缺口该如何解决呢？很显然，其中大部分担子将压在新业主肩上。

 

The Regional council was eventually given a report in 2016 outlining the financial implications of the cost overrun， and Macgregor acknowledged spending the extra money on the subway means money not being spent on other transportation or transit priorities. So where will the shortfall come from? Apparently, the new homeowners will carry a majority of the load.

 

为了筹集明年以及未来几年的服务经费，约克区将会直接提高新建筑的开发费用。此外，地铁项目的部分资金缺口将通过税收填补，但Macgregor寄希望于约克区政府充裕的储备金可令当局避免加税应对超支。

 

The region will simply increase its development charges on new construction to fund services next year and the following years to come. Part of the subway bill increase also comes from the tax levy, but Macgregor is hoping the region has enough in reserve accounts to mean taxes won’t have to be hiked to pay for the overrun.

 

约克区的许多居民对这$2亿多元超支深感不满。他们质疑区政府为什么不设置超支上限以控制财政风险，且在当首席行政官了解超支规模时，为什么不及时向约克区议会报告。由于区议员没有得到相关代表的及时通知，当媒体最终集体爆出超支新闻时，他们竟然比当地居民还后知后觉。

 

Many residents are unhappy about this overrun of over $200 million. They question why the Region did not place a cap to limit its financial exposure. They wonder why it was not reported to York Regional Council in 2015，when the CAO knew about the magnitude of this over budget. When it finally blew up all over the news, residents were getting the information ahead of the Regional Councillors because they were not informed by these representatives in a timely manner.

 

居民最终得到了一些答案。一名区议员称那是因为他们的辖区选民人数庞大（不像市选区议员每人只负责较少的选民），他们没有印制和向选民邮寄时事通讯的预算。但老实说，这能算得上一个借口么？

 

They finally got some answers. One Region Councillor stated that they do not have a budget for printing and mailing newsletters to their very large constituents (unlike the Ward Councillors each with a smaller population to deal with). Seriously, is that even a good excuse?

 

下一次，我们将继续探讨更多令当地居民深感费解的约克区事务。

Next time, we will look into more York Region affairs that really appear perplexing to its residents.