Refined estimate brings Penticton infrastructure deficit down by millions of dollars

PENTICTON – It appears as though the City of Penticton’s aging infrastructure isn’t as bad as was originally calculated.

Penticton’s asset management investment plan was created by Urban Systems two years ago. Since then, work has been conducted to refine initial findings, providing council and staff with a better understanding of the value of the city’s assets, how many of these assets are past their service life and how much the city should be spending annually to maintain its assets.

City manager Mitch Moroziuk says in a media release the most recent findings indicate the value of city assets that are past their service life and of a higher level of concern has been reduced from $175 million to $117 million.

“An important outcome of the plan is the more refined picture on costs. The plan has allowed the city to better understand its forthcoming asset management requirements both in terms of the range of what the city needs to replace and when, but also the associated costs to do it,” Moroziuk says.

“Most of us push the limits of our own assets, such as our car or homes, beyond typical service standards and the city is no different,” Mayor Andrew Jakubeit says in the release.

The city owns $1.25 billion in assets, mostly in buildings, followed by its water system, sanitary, electric and roads networks.

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