Follow the money: Analyzing the Toronto City Budget

Toronto city council releases its budget today, and CCPA-Ontario has been on the case for years. Here are some of our office's recommendations:

  • In January 2015, senior economist Sheila Block explored the revenue tools available to the city in her report Toronto's Taxing Question and explained her findings in the Toronto Star. She also urged city council to reinstate the vehicle registration tax, along with implementing other revenue options.
  • David Campanella assessed the value of private and semi-private waste collection in the city in his report More Headaches than it's Worth, published in June 2015.
  • In early 2016, Sheila told the Toronto Star it was "do or die time" for city council when it came to choosing revenue options. During the budget debates, she went on CBC's Metro Morning to explain why. In an editorial, the Toronto Star echoed her earlier recommendation on the vehicle registration tax.
  • In a Toronto Star op-ed this summer, Sheila Block said that new revenue options — not more service cuts — are the only sustainable options before city council this year. And last month, she analyzed the possible impact of selling off Toronto Hydro.

 

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