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Viewpoint You said it Classified lcanada.com| Sports Demand on the local food bank soars by 75 per cent. Local educator publishes her first children‘s book. Saab of Kitchener Waterioo 663 Victoria St. N. 744â€"5811 WHAT‘S INSIDE WATERLOO CHRONICLE Laâ€"Zâ€"Boy* Bast Napoleon® *Selected Distribution Page 12 Page 3 22 18 Lack of funding will impede affordable housing initiatives, Strickland says eeping up with longâ€" B term affordable housing eeds could prove diffiâ€" cult, if not impossible, for the Region of Waterloo without proper funding from the fedâ€" eral and provincial governâ€" ments, says one regional councillor. Coun. Sean Strickland, chair of the region‘s communiâ€" ty services committee, said that without funds from the upper levels of government to cover capital needs up to 2015, the region‘s ability to build new affordable housing units past 2005 will be "severely "For the short term, we‘re OK," Strickland stressed. "And this is not going to jeopardize By Anorea Baicey Chronicle Staff WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2002 + WATERLOO, ONTARIO Serving your community since 1856 In 1998 the province announced its intention to transfer the administration and financial responsibility for social housing to municipaliâ€" ties. And in 1999, a federal/provincial agreement was signed, transferring federâ€" al nonâ€"profits to the region to administer. our affordable housing strateâ€" gy of 1,000 units in three years. According to a staff report, an assessment of both the physical state of the buildings and the financial state of the capital reserve funds indicate the transferred social housing stock is currently in good _ "But this kind of pressure must be brought to bear." In total, the responsibility for 5,003 units is now being transferred to the region. However, it was also pointâ€" ed out that the same stock is underfunded in terms of reserves over the longer term; a situation for which, "The units are in good repair and they should stay in good repair." Regional council is expectâ€" ed to approve a motion next week to request that both upper government levels proâ€" vide up to $35.4 million or equivalent contributions to meet its obligations and to Strickland believes, the federal and provincial governments should be held accountable. "They are in good shape now, but the problem is there is no money to keep them in good shape," he said. _ "The federal and provincial governments have this responsibility. $1 INCLUDING GST ensure that sufficient funding will be available to undertake necessary capital repairs over the next 15 years. By then, Strickland said, enough interest will have accumulated to cover the $70 million shortfall expected to occur over the next few years. Sean Strickland regional councillor "I don‘t think this will come as a shock to (governments)," he said. Strickland said other municipalities are forwarding similar requests to the two governments. "Others are also sounding the alarm bells," he said. "It‘s a lot to ask local taxâ€" payers to pay for," he said, "considering the projects were the (governments‘) responsiâ€" bility. "You can‘t just say to taxâ€" payers here, ‘Oh, by the way, you owe another $70 million.‘" "I don‘t think it‘s a secret the housing file at both levels has not been managed well for at least the past 10 years." Strickland saidit would be unfair to expect local taxpayâ€" ers to cover any future capital costs for these units.