Budget committee meeting hears from speakers about transit, child care

Toronto’s budget committee heard from more than 100 speakers on Monday and Tuesday, many of them advocating for subsidized child care and increased transit spending.

The committee is considering its $9.6-billion operating budget and $18.6-billion capital budget before the budgets go before city council.

Transit was a hot topic on Tuesday.

Click here for the agenda and click here to watch the meeting.

“If General Motors was running the TTC, they’d close the plant down,” Coun. Doug Ford said, in response to a resident’s concern over the TTC fare hike.

Richard Underhill, another resident, has asked council to reconsider the TTC fare hike, saying it’s still a lot of money for a Metropass. He added that it’s a lot for people who live on fixed income, especially seniors. TTC has the lowest subsidy per rider in North America.

Last week, city staff said the $9.6-billion operating budget is starting with a spending pressure of more than $200-million and an additional $43-million due to the provincial funding cuts that affect the city’s housing programs.

City staff recommended a residential property tax hike of 2.5 per cent, which works out to about an extra $64 per household.

That would cover existing programs and services, as well as the Scarborough subway and $14 million in new services.

The new and enhanced services next year include $4 million in additional funding for the TTC, $3.1 million for 56 new paramedics and $4 million to support the arts.

Mayor Rob Ford said he wouldn’t support the 2014 budget because it was more than the 1.75-per-cent hike he was promising. And it doesn’t include his promise of a 10-per-cent cut in the municipal land transfer tax.

The difference between the two proposed taxes is about $18-million and Ford has argued that staff should be able to find those savings

 

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