Aging Winnipeg School Division buildings will mean 'hard decisions' especially when carbon tax comes

The Winnipeg School Division is asking for an urgent meeting with the minister of education after a new report shows the division is facing nearly $261 million in deferred maintenance costs including over $31 million needed to meet the province's accessibility rules.

Trustee Mark Wasyliw, who chairs the WSD's building and transportation committee says the impact on taxpayers will be huge.

"These infrastructure and maintenance deficits hurt public education," Wasyliwsaid at a press conference Thursday. "The taxpayers, whether they're paying through their income tax bill or their property tax bill are going to end up paying more."

The Building Systems Assessment report, released Thursday, looked at the status of various major building systems including structural, mechanical, and electrical, and was ordered by the WSD's Board of Trustees.

10 buildings over 100

Wasyliw said the average age of WSDschoolsis 62 years, and 10 buildings are over 100 years old.

To balance their annual budgets, Wasyliw says current and past boards have had to make "hard decisions" at budget time and that's meant deferring building and systems work.

He says while the study shows WSD buildings are safe, the division is facing a budget crunch as that deferred work grows to include infrastructure needs, accessibility, and sustainability.

Under the province's Accessibility for Manitobans Act the division is mandated to make sure their buildings are accessible.

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Wasyliw says that means 21 facilities need to have designated accessible parking added, 25 sites need to have curb cuts, another 20 need elevators added and 43 buildings need to have auto door openers installed.

The division says it's looking at spending more than $31 million to get that work done.

Carbon tax could cost $400K

Adding to the budget woes, says Wasyliw, is the province's Made-in-Manitoba Climate and Green plan which sets a flat carbon emissions tax of $25 per tonne starting this year.

The new carbon plan will leave the WSD with nearly $400,000 in additional taxes because many schools rely on ancient boiler furnaces, says Wasyliw.

"That's money that our property taxpayers are going to have to come up with because we don't have sufficient funding to replace these dated and outmoded heating systems."

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The WSD has requested an emergency meeting with Manitoba's Minister of Education Ian Wishartto discuss the division's future funding needs for building maintenance.

'Want' or 'need'?: province

Wasyliw wants the government to create a heritage school fund like several other provinces.

In an email, a provincial spokesperson said more than $6 million in supplemental funding has been committed to projects in the Winnipeg School Division in 2017-18, includingnew roofs, upgraded mechanical systems, structural repairs and accessibility projects.

Ongoing maintenance projects are school divisions' responsibility, said spokesperson Andrea Slobodian, through Schools Operating Grant funding.

"The division is requesting an additional $1.5 [million] annually (above their current funding) to maintain and update their buildings.This represents less than 0.3% of their substantial 2017/18 operating budget of over $405[million],"Slobodian wrote.

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"The Winnipeg School division's report notes that overall the buildings have been maintained well and no building is at the end of its useful life, or is structurally unsound," she continued. "The need for the additional ... funding support from Manitoba appears to be a 'want'and not a 'need.'"

Slobodian also suggested the school division could reduce its five million square feet of space that's currently maintained across 78 buildings.

ThePallistergovernment is set to release details of its third budget Monday.