Time is running out to shoot down City’s $32 million loan proposal

There’s only one day until the deadline to take a stand against the City of Prince George borrowing $32 million.

Earlier this year, the City proposed the loan for 11 different projects, including over $10 million for the Aquatic Centre Renewal and Upgrade and $5 million for Critical Street Light and Traffic Signal Replacement. 

If the loan proposal is to be shot down, it has to be through the Alternative Approval Process, which requires that over 5,500 PG voters (10% of the voting population) sign a document that has been available from City Hall since late April.  

Some residents have been vocal about their opposition to the loan since it was put on the table, including a Facebook group called Enough Already! City of PG AAP., who has been at the Farmer’s Market to collect signatures as well offering to distribute and return the forms for people.

The deadline is tomorrow (Thursday) at 5:00 pm, but we won’t know the results until the next City Council meeting on June 10th. 

Walter Babicz, General Manager of Administrative Services for the City of Prince George, said him and his team need to review the Electoral Response Forms for duplicates and to see that all the required information is filled out before presenting the results to council.

If voted down, it’s still not necessarily the end of the road on discussions for the loan as council can opt to move forward to a referendum.

“It’s very much like an election, similar to the referendum that we held for the loan authorization bylaw for the replacement of the Four Seasons Pool and the new Firehall project,” said Babicz.     

According to him, the price for that referendum came in just under $100 thousand dollars, and another would likely have a similar price tag.