That is $1.5 million over the original submitted cost of the project of $13.6 million.
Of that overage, Bayer said half of it is made up of construction PST, which was a provincial government dictate that came in after the city applied for the project in 2017.
Checking with the feds, Bayer said there was nothing that could have been done by city staff about it. Essentially, he said, the timing of the submission is the driver of that cost.
Bayer said it was a cost the city would not get back. “You used to get refunded the cost of PST, and no longer is that the case,” said Bayer.