Star's Royson James
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Quit monkeying around with the zoo
Jul. 12, 2006. 01:00 AM
ROYSON JAMES
Maybe he's just not saying it right. Then again, maybe there's no right way to say that the City of Toronto should charge 905 residents more to attend the zoo than city dwellers.
Or, maybe City Councillor Joe Mihevc is just trying to raise his profile by proposing controversial ideas as he heads into a competitive election contest (Ward 21, St. Paul's) against well-known challenger and former Toronto mayor John Sewell.
Whatever his reasoning, Mihevc hasn't been persuasive.
After proposing this brainstorming idea at a council budget committee last week — one that would be divisive and be sure to incite opposition in GTA border communities — Mihevc was back at it this week, following World Cup celebrations Sunday along St. Clair.
Pointing to piles of trash, the cost of the cleanup and the attendant higher expenses of running a central city where inhabitants from the region converge for civic celebrations, Mihevc said Toronto needs revenues to offset the costs and burdens of hosting such events.
Sewell's response yesterday sums up the problem with Mihevc's musing.
Sure, Toronto has its fiscal problems and needs revenues, Sewell said in an interview. But this is no solution.
"It's just dead wrong. You can't divide up people according to where they live. You don't attack people in the 905 to solve our problems," said the progressive Sewell, who aims to shake up city hall and shake out Mihevc.
"The zoo is a regional resource. The function of big cities is always to offer things that others don't," and the attendant higher costs are just what it takes to run a big city, Sewell said.
Some call it the burden and the delight of big cities.
Like a big brother or a matriarch, you host the party. The family comes to your place for special celebrations. And you pick up the operating costs and hassles of more garbage, higher electricity and water bills and greater wear and tear. It goes with the territory.
Sophisticated cities find ways to play the game without whining to their siblings. They wheedle money from provincial governments to cover what everyone acknowledges are higher costs. They skilfully levy fees that counter the costs. They put in tolls on new projects that cater to the influx of visitors. And they are careful not to talk about it because such discussion is just bad form.
Mihevc's not all wet, here.
Toronto, as the heart of the GTA, does bear higher costs than its neighbours. Its daytime population is higher than its nighttime population as hundreds of thousands come in for jobs and recreation and entertainment.
The argument is that while these "visitors" eat lunch and shop at downtown eateries and retail stores, the municipal government does not reap any of the benefits. The businesses get the sales, the federal government gets the GST and the province pockets the sales tax. All the city gets is the cost of cleanup, and the residual effect of a healthy business sector that, in turn, pays property taxes.
So, a portion of sales tax would be a welcome addition to the now-limited menu of funding tools available to the city, Mihevc argues.
The councillor might have stopped there, though. Queen's Park has just given Toronto a new act and the act fails to deliver a portion of the sales tax to the city. Mihevc would be on solid ground beating the drums for the province to change its mind.
Instead, the councillor suggests the city charge residents around Toronto higher admission to the Toronto Zoo.
On the surface, it is a poorly designed plan in that it is bound to infuriate Toronto's neighbours. Such a two-tier admission rate, conceived as Mihevc proposes it, can only lead to fewer admissions at the zoo when the facility is already hurting for customers. It ticks off a specific target audience, and it brings to everyone's attention the already exorbitant admission costs to the zoo.
Maybe Mihevc doesn't quite care about that. His constituents in Ward 21, St. Paul's would not be affected by the higher ticket price so they won't vote against him for proposing it. And, he gets press coverage and air time.
However, the danger is they might see him as lacking in the urban sophistication needed from one of Mayor David Miller's closest advisers and allies on council.
There was a better way to finesse this, of course.
You get Miller and the ruling party at city hall to buy into an idea to promote the zoo, spur attendance and thank Toronto residents for funding the zoo with their taxes and for showing up in numbers to see the exhibits. Starting this summer, you say, a Toronto address will get you a $2 discount in zoo admission.
Then, next year, when you raise prices, as you always do, Toronto residents are back to the 2006 price while you're getting more from out-of-town visitors.
Of course, it may be too late to try that now.
