Broadly speaking, there are eight traditional sources of capital financing employed by western Canada's big cities. These eight sources are generally narrow, but any assessment of whether more options are needed to address the problem should begin with a brief discussion of these current sources, how they have been traditionally employed, and an assessment of their potential to address infrastructure deficits in the West's big cities. To finance capital construction and municipal infrastructure, cities typically draw on the following financing tools:
■ Transfers from Current Operating Revenue
■ Transfers from Capital Reserves
■ Federal and Provincial Capital Grants
■ Local Improvement Levies or Surcharges
■ Developer Charges and Donated Assets
■ User Fees
■ Borrowing and Debt Issuance
■ Sale of Assets and Other