Nothing has changed – except perhaps to get worse – since that blog was written. Toronto’s infrastructure continues to deteriorate and the city now faces a backlog of some $33 billion. Traffic congestion continues to increase. The City continues to contemplate or even announce grandiose projects without any specific basis for funding them – except for the usual cry that the provincial and federal governments should step up. As municipal affairs columnist Royson James stated:
Toronto plans subways it can’t afford to build, much less operate; proposes roads it struggles to construct and refuses to clear of tumble weeds; and runs a housing company for the underclass that is dangerously under-resourced.
Meanwhile, the property taxes paid by Toronto residents remain the lowest in the GTA, by a wide margin. According to Royson James, they were $3,170 on an average Toronto home last year – as compared to $3,945 in Mississauga, $4,480 in Markham, and nearly $5,000 in Vaughan and Richmond Hill. Toronto also fails to levy competitive development charges that would substantially increase its yield from the many building projects underway or recently completed. Development charges on a large apartment unit are $24,634 in Toronto and double (or almost double) that in Mississauga, Brampton, and Markham.
For those still clinging to the lingering myth that needed revenues would magically appear if we simply cut all the fat in the bureaucracy and put an end to the supposed gravy train, a report from late May of this year pointed out that when adjusted for population growth and inflation, the real cost of municipal services, per resident, has decreased since 2010. It disclosed that Torontonians were currently paying about $165, or 3.8%, less per resident than they had six years ago, notwithstanding the provision of a number of additional services. [As Churchill might have said: “Some gravy, some train!”]
New Crisis and same old Tax Resistance
The latest financial crisis to hit Toronto City Hall arrived in the form of an October 31 staff report that provides details on the cost-sharing between the municipality and the province in connection with more than $11 billion of transit projects. It makes clear (apparently for the first time) that the province will not be paying toward the operation of the Eglinton Crosstown, Finch West, and Sheppard East LRTs. The City will also be responsible for operating and maintenance costs for the SmartTrack and proposed Eglinton West LRT. Depending on how the SmartTrack project is financed, staff estimate that a property tax increase of 2% to 3% would be necessary for a limited period. The predictable – but disappointing – response from the mayor’s spokesperson was an insistence that property taxes would not be increased to pay for SmartTrack but other available means (unspecified) would be used.
Is it too much to ask Toronto City Council to have an honest discussion with its citizens about these much needed transportation projects and what a property tax increase would actually mean. There is a handy property tax calculator at Toronto’s website and it shows that the current tax on a home assessed at $500,000 is $3,439 and rises to $4,127 on a home assessed at $600,000. Those prices are well above the “average” home property assessment even with the escalation of home prices in Toronto lately. If we raise the taxes by 3% (the higher estimate for the SmartTrack project), the result is an additional payment of between $103 and $123.
Measuring Taxes in Coffee Cups
Let’s review for a moment, shall we. The province is stepping up and providing many billions for transit projects that will help to ease the congestion crisis in Toronto. The City’s share of the SmartTrack project could be financed by a property tax increase of $10 a month or $2.30 a week (or less). What is that: One coffee with a couple Timbits or part of one coffee if you frequent Starbucks? This would be the crushing additional tax burden that the Mayor cannot contemplate imposing on his citizens? Yes, I appreciate that there will be some instances where the property tax represents a significant burden but the Municipal Act authorizes municipalities to defer, cancel, or otherwise provide relief from residential taxes for low income seniors or persons with disabilities.
A well-governed Toronto is important not just for those who live there but for all of Canada. Even those who might like to dislike Toronto and its world-class pretensions, need to appreciate that it is Canada’s global city and a key resource for us in an increasingly competitive world. But it needs a council that will grow up, show some leadership and backbone, and “put its money where its mouth is.”