Glen
Senior Member
http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/comment/article/492490--property-tax-hike-could-fund-transit
It’s easy to be a crybaby. Last week, the McGuinty government said it was delaying $4 billion funding for new light rail transit lines.
Mayor David Miller was beside himself in indignation, calling it “disgraceful†and “thoughtless.†Another councillor called it “shockingly horrible.â€
We know McGuinty’s problem. The economic downturn has stripped good industrial jobs, and tax revenue has fallen.
The same week the budget came out, the city’s publication Our Toronto landed on our doorstep, praising the leadership of Miller and the council.
On page 14 the mayor says the City of Toronto has the lowest property taxes in the GTA.
Comparing houses with the same assessment, Miller says the Toronto homeowner pays $225 less a year than in Mississauga, $703 less than in Mar*kham, and $980 less than in Vaughan.
If these light rail transit lines are so critical to the health of the city, why don’t the crybabies on city council fund them with increased residential property tax? Why don’t they take the mid-point for property taxes in the GTA, raising them so every homeowner pays $500 more a year than in the draft budget? That would pour about $400 million this year into these transit lines.
If you want the lowest taxes in the GTA then you can’t afford all the transit improvements you want. If you want more transit, then maybe you can’t have the lowest taxes. Which is it for the crybabies?
When city council meets about the budget on April 15, will the crybabies care enough about transit to vote for the necessary tax increase?