City council debates 2011 financial plan
Posted February 23, 2011 6:39 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Budget battles are underway at City Hall, as councillors and the mayor got started debating the 2011 financial plan Wednesday.
“This budget ladies and gentlemen, is a budget of firsts. For the first time in many years, this budget is essentially a flat budget,” said Mayor Rob Ford.
Four sessions will be held, which allow councillors to introduce motions and request funding.
On Wednesday, council approved a zero per cent increase on residential property taxes, which went against a motion introduced by councillor Gord Perks who suggested a small increase.
“I think the mayor is profoundly misleading Torontonians if he thinks he can generate $700 million in savings without having a profound impact on services the city delivers,” said Coun. Perks.
“I said I’m going to try to get a zero percent tax increase and that’s exactly what I did,” said Mayor Ford.
If this $9.38-billion budget passes as is, it will be up slightly from the 2010 $9.21 billion budget.
