Will Toronto Council approve a 9.5% tax hike? Councilors will call this week

Mayor Olivia Chow's first budget since winning the city's top job comes to council for one final debate on Wednesday, and it could see council pass the biggest tax increase for Torontonians in 25 years.

If the mayor's budget passes as expected, the planned tax increase of 9.5 percent will become a reality. Chou said he would try to strike a balance with his first spending package, paying for basic services while also addressing the city's $1.8 billion structural budget deficit.

The new mayor, who took office in a by-election last summer, defended the tax hike as “simple”, but he admitted it was a tough choice.

The city must address growing financial pressures exacerbated by the pandemic while investing in transit and better downtown maintenance. Toronto can't get out of the situation, he said recently.

“If we cut deeper, we could cut through the bone and hit the brain,” he said. “It's going to hurt our city, and we can't do it.”

The final budget discussion follows a week of public consultations and budget committee meetings. A one-day session on Wednesday will set Toronto's spending priorities for the year. By law, it must file its books with the city that balances it.

While Toronto's official budget process began in January with a document proposed by staff that includes a 10.5 per cent property tax hike, the debate over the city's troubled finances has dragged on for months, if not years.

Chow has been trying to build a political consensus around the need for tax increases since last year's re-election bid, said Meyer Siemiatsky, a professor of politics at Toronto Metropolitan University. Now, he said, passing his budget and moving his agenda forward will be a priority for the new mayor.

“This is the most important vote coming to the City Council this year,” Siemiatsky said. “It affects everything that is postponed.”

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The tax rate would be the highest since unification in 1998, but it is lower than the staff rate proposed last month. The mayor could send a message to council members that if they want to add something to the council floor, there will be a cost, Siemiacki said.

“I think if the mayor wants a double-digit tax increase, that's what it's going to look like,” he said.

“I think he's alerting the counselors that he wants various additional pet projects, “Okay, are you ready to go above 9.5?''

Councilors moved to disrupt snow removal services

Over the past week, councilors have worked to find about $4 million in snow removal savings in Chow's budget.

The proposed 2024 budget includes $620 million in cuts or offsets, and that list includes adding plowing services to 262,000 homes. Windrows are piles of snow that block roads and are created by plows.

Right now, after the plows have finished clearing the driveways, snow removal equipment is in progress. But according to the plan proposed by transport department officials, the service will be canceled in the 2024/2025 winter season.

Number. Paul Ainslie, one of Chow's allies, said he registered his opposition to the cuts with the mayor on the day the budget was launched.

“It's a service that many seniors in the city depend on,” he said. “I made it clear to the mayor that the window service must remain in the budget.”

Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiu has advocated a $20 million budget increase for the police service. The proposed city budget calls for a $7.4 million increase in the police budget. (Toronto Police Service Chapter)

A debate on police funding is on the table

A number of councilors also supported granting Toronto police a request for a $20 million budget increase to its net budget of nearly $1.2 billion.

Chow's budget proposes a $7.4 million budget increase for police. He disputed police chief Miron Demkiv's description of the increase as a “cut.”

Siemiaticki said an aggressive public relations campaign by the police service and the association that represents its officers could backfire if the goal is to grant Chow's request. It seems to have done the opposite, he said.

“It's hard to believe that the safety of the city hangs in the balance for so little additional growth,” he said. “And it's hard to turn growth into contraction. The numbers speak for themselves.”

Budget struggle over $8 million unallocated

The fight over $8 million in a $17 billion budget is likely to play a big part of the discussion.

Earlier this month, the mayor earmarked the finance portfolio to address “unresolved debates.” Councilors are working to increase that funding before a final budget vote on Wednesday – which could be used for essential services such as policing or snow removal.

But the mayor's decision to allocate funds from his pocket caused some criticism.

“I don't think it would be very helpful or constructive to create 'Council Hunger Games,' a debate on the council floor regarding services that are so important to Torontonians,” Kuhn said. Brad Bradford said.

Number. Stephen Holliday likened the exercise to “fighting over table scraps.” He said that if the mayor himself cannot allocate money, he should use it to reduce the tax rate.

“I think it's a terrible setup … Here they throw $8 million like a bowl of meat into a den of lions and watch us fight each other,” Holiday said.

Last year, former mayor John Tory left a $7 million funding pocket that the council used to help the city's homeless, with some of the money building an additional warming centre.