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`Desperate' city looks at lottery
Feb. 10, 2006. 08:48 AM
PAUL MOLONEY
CITY HALL BUREAU
Call it LOT-T.O.
The cash-strapped City of Toronto is researching the idea of selling lottery tickets to raise cash for municipal projects.
"It could (raise) hundreds of millions," chief financial officer Joe Pennachetti said in an interview yesterday.
At the request of city council's budget committee, city lawyers are expected to report in a week on whether the new City of Toronto Act would give the city the power to run a lottery.
"The way the draft legislation reads, you can do everything except what it says you can't do," said city manager Shirley Hoy. "They have not said you cannot do a lottery, so we're saying to our lawyers we should be able to do that."
The act would allow the city to impose a number of fees such as a sales tax on tobacco, alcohol and tickets to entertainment events. City staff have said that such fees could bring in about $50 million a year.
But a lottery could allow the city, which is facing a $532 million shortfall in its 2006 operating budget, to tap into a lucrative revenue source. And as with the provincially run lotteries, the funds could be directed to specific projects.
"My own feeling is it would need to be linked with very specific kinds of projects, for example culture grants or recreation programs or youth programs," said Councillor Joe Mihevc, vice-chair of the budget committee. "People could then see a direct link between the ticket they're buying and the positive benefit in the community."
And while council is on record as opposing casinos in the city, a lottery may be different.
"I don't think there's a taste among Torontonians on the casino front, I don't think it's politically feasible, but on the lottery ticket side it might be," said Mihevc (Ward 21, St. Paul's).
While the city may have the power, city council may not want to go down that road, he warned.
"I think all the studies have shown it's a tax on the poor. Those are the folks who buy lottery tickets in the main and that's something we would have to consider."
"It's certainly something that the province and hospitals and other public agencies have used as fundraising mechanisms," said Councillor Sylvia Watson (Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park), vice-chair of the budget committee.
"Leaving aside the fundamental question of whether lotteries are a good, bad or an indifferent thing, if it's a form of fundraising that has served other levels of government well, there's no reason why we shouldn't at least consider it," Watson said.
"I'm quite prepared to buy lottery tickets if it's going to help restore some of the programs we need," said Councillor Kyle Rae (Ward 27, Toronto Centre-Rosedale), a budget committee member.
Pennachetti said the fact the city is even contemplating a lottery illustrates the serious predicament the city faces.
"We don't think we want to be in that business and we don't think we should be," he said. "That's how desperate you are, though, when you start to look at lotteries."
`Desperate' city looks at lottery
Feb. 10, 2006. 08:48 AM
PAUL MOLONEY
CITY HALL BUREAU
Call it LOT-T.O.
The cash-strapped City of Toronto is researching the idea of selling lottery tickets to raise cash for municipal projects.
"It could (raise) hundreds of millions," chief financial officer Joe Pennachetti said in an interview yesterday.
At the request of city council's budget committee, city lawyers are expected to report in a week on whether the new City of Toronto Act would give the city the power to run a lottery.
"The way the draft legislation reads, you can do everything except what it says you can't do," said city manager Shirley Hoy. "They have not said you cannot do a lottery, so we're saying to our lawyers we should be able to do that."
The act would allow the city to impose a number of fees such as a sales tax on tobacco, alcohol and tickets to entertainment events. City staff have said that such fees could bring in about $50 million a year.
But a lottery could allow the city, which is facing a $532 million shortfall in its 2006 operating budget, to tap into a lucrative revenue source. And as with the provincially run lotteries, the funds could be directed to specific projects.
"My own feeling is it would need to be linked with very specific kinds of projects, for example culture grants or recreation programs or youth programs," said Councillor Joe Mihevc, vice-chair of the budget committee. "People could then see a direct link between the ticket they're buying and the positive benefit in the community."
And while council is on record as opposing casinos in the city, a lottery may be different.
"I don't think there's a taste among Torontonians on the casino front, I don't think it's politically feasible, but on the lottery ticket side it might be," said Mihevc (Ward 21, St. Paul's).
While the city may have the power, city council may not want to go down that road, he warned.
"I think all the studies have shown it's a tax on the poor. Those are the folks who buy lottery tickets in the main and that's something we would have to consider."
"It's certainly something that the province and hospitals and other public agencies have used as fundraising mechanisms," said Councillor Sylvia Watson (Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park), vice-chair of the budget committee.
"Leaving aside the fundamental question of whether lotteries are a good, bad or an indifferent thing, if it's a form of fundraising that has served other levels of government well, there's no reason why we shouldn't at least consider it," Watson said.
"I'm quite prepared to buy lottery tickets if it's going to help restore some of the programs we need," said Councillor Kyle Rae (Ward 27, Toronto Centre-Rosedale), a budget committee member.
Pennachetti said the fact the city is even contemplating a lottery illustrates the serious predicament the city faces.
"We don't think we want to be in that business and we don't think we should be," he said. "That's how desperate you are, though, when you start to look at lotteries."
