City’s budget battle begins

Posted January 10, 2011 2:29 pm.

This article is more than 5 years old.

TORONTO, Ont. – Mayor Rob Ford has unveiled the proposed budget for 2011, one that calls for a zero property tax increase and no major service cuts.

“It is a modest budget that requires no property tax increases and calls for no major service cuts,” the man himself said at a news conference on Monday, but the first Ford era budget also includes a 10-cent TTC fare hike and a threat to clean house if city agencies can’t trim their budgets.

“As part of our upcoming department review, we will focus on those agencies first,” said Mayor Rob Ford at a news conference on Monday. “If they’re unable to manage effectively, then we will have to find new managers that can.”

In some cases, “their managers and their boards of directors decided their interests were more important than the taxpayers interests,” he said.

Meanwhile, the fare hike – which would see the price of tokens increase by 10 cents each and a Metropass increase by five dollars – was met by mostly negative response, first by Ford himself.

“If I’d realized that we’d be dinging transit riders when we eliminated personal vehicle tax, I would not have supported that,” said councillor Paula Fletcher.

“Nobody in this city wants a 10 cent fare increase if we can find a way to avoid it,” TTC Chair Karen Stintz told 680News.

“No one should be happy with a 10 cent fare hike,” added TTC General Manager Gary Webster. “We get challenged every time we come forward with that.”

Ford said while riders won’t face major cuts, 48 bus routes will stop running late into the night or on weekends due to low ridership.

The price hike could take affect as early as February 1.

Ford also plans to tap into the city’s one-time surplus fund of $400-million to stabilize and balance the 2011 budget without raising property taxes.

Moreover, he pointed out he will bring in outside experts to pour through the city’s department books to find the kind of savings that he says will lead to getting rid of the city’s structural deficit.

“They will leave no stone unturned; I’m confident they will find opportunities to limit our structural deficit once and for all,” he said.

Ford said most city departments were able to reduce their budgets by the five per cent he requested, and that those who didn’t, couldn’t or refused to do so will become the first targets of outside eyes, and that the managers of those agencies will be the first to be fired.

While property taxes aren’t headed for an increase in the new budget, water and garbage fees, and water rates will be rising as planned.

His wish is for the budget approved on February 23, more than a month ahead of schedule. In the past, the budget was not approved until April.

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The city will host four public consultations January 19-20 so that Torontonians can provide feedback on the budget.

The dates, times and locations for the public consultations are:

Wednesday, Jan. 19 at 6 p.m.