Facing the need for a drastic tax increase, Mississauga councillors are second-guessing their own plans for a $1.5 billion LRT to modernize the city and ease congestion.

Weak support for the project became apparent this week after staff proposed a 7.8 per cent increase for the city’s portion of the 2013 tax bill. Nowhere in the budget was there funding for the light rail transit the city wants to build along its north-south spine, Hurontario St.

It’s estimated the project would cost the city $500 million — a tough sell despite all-round agreement that the city desperately needs to boost its transit service.

“An extra $3 million is about a 1 per cent increase,” Councillor George Carlson said Wednesday. “Nobody wants to get booted in the next election. If we even put $10 million to $15 million away a year, the very minimum needed, we wouldn’t live long enough to put a dent into the $500 million we’ll need for our share.”

On Thursday, the province indicated that Mississauga’s LRT would be part of the Metrolinx second wave of transit priorities. But Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig made it clear that municipalities would still have to contribute to the costs of projects in their cities.

During Tuesday’s budget presentation, when transit funding for 2013-2016 was discussed, staff did not address paying for the LRT, despite frequent talkof the project this year by Mayor Hazel McCallion and other councillors.

Building light rail along Hurontario is seen as a key step to addressing the city’s increasing congestion amid an intense building program, particularly in the downtown core.

Following a March 28 presentation on the LRT project’s status, councillors responded enthusiastically to the three-year estimate for completion of the project, as design and environmental studies were about to begin.

Council backed a funding model that would include tax revenues, fees from new development and even a special levy or property tax increase. Council hoped to see the province cover one-third of the cost and Ottawa another third, with the city picking up the rest.

On Wednesday, McCallion and Councillor Nando Iannicca shifted from that position, saying there was a possibility the province might cover the whole shot.

“The LRT is a big question mark, quite honestly,” McCallion said. “We’re waiting to see what Metrolinx is going to do. Maybe the LRT will be fully funded by the province. We don’t know.”

But McCuaig’s comments Thursday seem to have dashed those hopes.

McCallion also said Wednesday that the federal government hasn’t decided if it will fund such infrastructure programs based on the one-third model.

“It’s a big open question,” she said. “In my opinion the LRT project will not move unless there is a major injection of federal and provincial funding.”

The mayor, who has been floating the idea of a land transfer tax to raise an estimated $74 million annually, finally said the LRT won’t t go forward if residents have to fund too much of it.

Iannicca acknowledged that, if senior governments don’t go along, the project just might not happen. “At the end of the day, Mississaugans are going to have to realize we’re going to have to pay more if we want that LRT, and we’re going to have to go to the taxpayers in one form or another.”

Carlson and Councillor Pat Saito said their colleagues should stop talking about the LRT like it’s a done deal.

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“We haven’t put (LRT) funding in the budget, because it’s not a definite go,” Saito said Tuesday.

Carlson added Wednesday: “The proof is in the pudding. If anyone really wanted to make a funding commitment for it, they would have moved a motion. Has anyone ever moved a motion?”

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