4% Tax Hike In Store For Toronto Home Owners

“You can’t have a great city for free.”

That was Mayor David Miller’s response to the city’s proposed 2010 operating budget – a déjà vu financial scenario for Toronto homeowners and businesses that are facing proposed tax hikes identical to last year.

The city’s budget committee is proposing a four per cent increase in property taxes and a 1.3 per cent increase in business taxes.

While increased taxes often result in increasingly irate citizens, Miller reminded Torontonians that they still pay the lowest property taxes in the GTA.

He noted the average Toronto home has an assessed value of $407,374, which results in $2,334 in annual property taxes – that’s equal to $6.39 a day. That same home in Markham will be taxed $703 more, the mayor noted.

“The matter is settled.  If you own a home or condo in Toronto you paid less residential property taxes in 2009 than any other municipality in the GTA,” he said.

The proposed tax increase would tack an extra $93 onto the bill for the aforementioned home.

User fees, which account for 15 per cent of the city’s total budget, will also be going up. The city provided the example of a 12-week aquatic pass, which will go up to $192.97 from $186.67.

The city hopes to seal a deal with the province by Dec. 2010 that will provide Toronto with sustainable transit funding – a measure expected to ease the budget burden significantly. The province is currently running a record $24 billion deficit – municipalities aren’t allowed to operate in the red.

“Transit is too important to be financed with ad-hoc, year-end or one-time funds, and the TTC is too important to the future of Toronto to allow it to suffer uncertain funding,” Miller said.

If the province doesn’t come through with that cash, the city has allocated $219 million from the prior year surplus to fund the TTC.

The city won’t sell off assets to make up the shortfall.

“Anyone who tells you that they can freeze or cut your taxes and provide the vital services we all rely on, including: helping the most vulnerable amongst us; public transit; emergency services; safe communities where crime continues to decline and protecting the environment, is simply not telling you the whole story,” Miller said.

See the full report here.(pdf file)

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Highlights of the 2010 proposed Operating Budget include:

• $1.4 billion for the operation of the TTC, which provided more than 471 million rides in 2009.
• $285 million to maintain Toronto’s more than 5,000 km of roads, bridges and expressways.
• $956 million for Toronto’s Police Service – more than 5,000 officers responded to more than 876,000 9-1-1 calls in 2008.
• $427 million for Toronto Fire and Emergency Medical Services to maintain response times and provide life-saving help.
• $373 million to provide child care spaces to Toronto’s children. More than 940 child care centres and 21 home child care agencies provide 56,900 licensed child care spaces. 24,000 children are able to access a licensed space with the help of a child care fee subsidy.
• $1.3 billion to support the City’s employment and social services – more than 85,000 resident visits to 15 offices took place in 2009. In 2010 the average number of social assistance cases at any given time is expected to be about 105,000 which includes both families and individuals. This estimate reflects the increasing numbers of people that will need assistance as the economy recovers. In January, there were over 158,000 people in Toronto depending on Ontario Works.
• $220 million for the City’s Long-Term Care Homes and Services – 10 homes and more than 115,000 home-maker visits.
• $359 million to deliver more than 62,000 recreation programs – more than eight million program visits in 2009.