Two-thirds of Whitehorse’s 2027 capital plan lacks funding

About two-thirds of the $85.76 million the City of Whitehorse proposes to spend on capital projects in 2027 depends on money the city does not yet have, including more than $18 million for a long-sought fire hall in Whistle Bend.

The proposed 2027-2030 capital expenditure program, presented to council on Monday, totals $385.8 million over four years, the city said in a notice. About $57 million of next year’s projects remain subject to funding from the territorial and federal governments. By our calculation, that is about 66 per cent of the 2027 plan, leaving roughly $28.8 million backed by funding the city has already identified.

“That means we have significant work to do in order to make this spending plan a reality,” Mayor Kirk Cameron said, CBC News reported. “Federal and territorial contributions will be critical to the success of this plan.”

The largest item for 2027 is the Whistle Bend fire hall, which Cameron said would include extra space for emergency medical services. At more than $18 million, it accounts for about a fifth of next year’s proposed spending. Whistle Bend residents asked council a year ago to make a fire station in the fast-growing neighbourhood a priority, CBC reported, but the project cannot go ahead until funding is in place.

Cameron said climate change, population growth and aging infrastructure are the city’s biggest and most connected challenges. “Our rapid population growth is felt every day on the roads, sidewalks, paths and routes that keep our neighbourhoods connected,” he said.

The later years of the plan are provisional and will be reviewed each year. They include more than $57 million in 2028 and 2029 for engineering work to stabilize the escarpment along Robert Service Way.

Council will debate the plan next month. A public input session is set for 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 23, at City Hall, where anyone may speak for five minutes, and written comments can be emailed to the city until the session closes. The territory’s own spending pressures include power bills that could jump 53 per cent without federal help and $8.3 million in new hospital funding.

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