Ford Unveils Fiscal Plan

Rob Ford boldly promised Friday to produce a surplus of nearly $1.7-billion after four years, if he becomes the city’s next mayor.

“It’s not complicated,” Ford stressed.  “We need to simply stop spending more than we take in.  We cannot overtax people and businesses and must start focusing spending on the priority areas of our residents.”

Ford also promised to abolish the vehicle registration tax, and the land transfer tax.

The front-running candidate claims he’ll be able to save $526.6 million in 2011 alone.

The extra money will come in part from cutting back on city staff, dumping the city’s fair wage policy, and contracting out garbage removal and the cleaning of city police stations.

Any excess cash would be used to improve child care, services for the elderly, and help make the city more accessible for the disabled.  The rest would be saved for ’emergencies’.

Despite suggestions to the contrary from his rivals and detractors, Ford maintained that city services would not suffer under his reign.

From Ford Press Release:

Four-Year Surplus to improve services, rebuild reserves, pay down debt

Over the four-year period from 2011 to 2014, Rob Ford’s plan will produce a net surplus of about $1.7 Billion.  This surplus will be allocated in the taxpayers’ best interest as follows:

Improvements to Priority Services.  One quarter of the money saved from reducing waste at City Hall will be allocated to improvements in services that impact the quality of life of Toronto residents every day.  Specific program allocations will be made in consultation with City Council and after full community consultation.  For example, areas that may be funded with these priority funds could include: childcare services, services for seniors, making Toronto more accessible for people with disabilities, affordable housing, improvements to city-owned housing stock, etc.

Rebuilding Reserves.  One quarter of the money saved from reducing waste at City Hall will be allocated to rebuilding our financial reserves to provide Toronto with the necessary financial “cushion” to deal with emergencies and unexpected expenses.

Debt Repayment.  Half of the money saved from reducing waste at City Hall will be allocated to paying down the city’s debt.  This will reduce our annual debt servicing expense and make additional money available to improve services for taxpayers or to hold the line on future tax increases. 

Ford has also vowed changes to the Capital Budget, issuing the following statement in his release Friday:

The capital budget is funded primarily by issuing debt and with funds contributed from the current year Operating Budget.  The city’s planned contribution to the capital budget from operations in 2011 is $182 million. In 2012, that number is projected as $200 million. We will reduce this transfer from the operating budget to the capital budget by $125 million in each of 2011 and 2012.

To offset this reduction in funding to the capital budget, and to enable the city to pay down some of its debt earlier, we will sell surplus assets (primarily land). Over four years, we will sell up to $1 billion in surplus assets, with a target of at least $125 million in each of 2011 and 2012. This will make up to $750 million available, over the four-year period, for additional debt retirement.