[URBAN NOTE] "Brampton council shocked by cost of York Region project"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's San Grewal provides yet another example demonstrating how Brampton stands out among GTA municipalities for its many municipal controversies.

While some residents in York Region are angry over a $212-million price tag for a soon-to-be-built regional headquarters, Brampton councillors are questioning how their own controversial city hall building cost almost the same price for less than a third of the space.

“Is this supposed to tell us what we already know — that we overpaid?” Councillor Gurpreet Dhillon asked his colleagues, voicing frustration as a motion at Wednesday's council meeting was introduced to find out how York Region is paying $212 million for a planned 422,000-square-foot building.

In 2011, Brampton agreed to a deal for its new 126,000-square-foot city hall building that is costing local taxpayers $205 million.

“I almost laughed,” said Councillor Elaine Moore, pointing out a Toronto Star article about the cost of York Region's new headquarters. “I certainly received emails yesterday,” she said, mentioning the reaction of some constituents.

Moore told the Star that even though the York project's cost does not include financing (it's being funded internally) while Brampton's cost does, the math still doesn't add up. "With municipal borrowing rates having maintained at historic lows around three per cent, we are still paying close to three times more than York," she said.