Parking spot tax could pay for Toronto subways: Mayor
Posted February 24, 2012 12:38 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Mayor Rob Ford said implementing a tax on Toronto’s parking spots could help pay for the Sheppard subway extension, but details of the plan haven’t been made clear.
Ford, who entered office on a promise to “end the war on cars,” made the comments at city hall Thursday.
During the budget process last November, consultant KPMG said a parking spot tax could bring in $90 million a year.
If it were implemented, the tax would likely be a per-space fee. In cases where parking is already free, such as large shopping malls and movie theatres, the lot owner would likely absorb the cost.
For paid parking spots, drivers would be paying more.
In an editorial in the Globe and Mail Thursday, Ford said the parking spot levy “would fund a public-private partnership model to build the Sheppard subway and generate ongoing revenue for future subway expansion.”
One councillor disagreed with the parking spot levy, arguing that a sales tax would spread the tax burden across a larger number of Toronto residents as well as tourists and visitors.
“Torontonians want subways. Everyone knows that,” Coun. Norm Kelly told CityNews Friday.
“The question is, how do we fund them? The option that I’m recommending is…a sales tax, which would apply to everyone who uses Toronto’s facilities. It’s spread across a large number of people.”
When Ford took office, one of his first acts was to scrap the vehicle registration tax, which brought in approximately $64 million a year.
