junctionist
Senior Member
Tax incentives for Woodbine development questioned
Allison Hanes, National Post
Published: Friday, July 04, 2008
The billion-dollar project to transform the Woodbine Racetrack into a full-fledged tourist attraction promises to create more than 8,000 construction jobs, plus 10,000 permanent jobs when it is completed at a hotel, restaurants, retail stores and entertainment venues.
But some city councillors are questioning whether those types of employment qualify Woodbine Live for tax breaks under a new program intended to spur job creation in knowledge-based industries like biotechnology and information technology.
On Tuesday, the economic development committee will consider a proposal to put up $120-million in tax incentives over 20 years for Woodbine Live, including a 90% reduction in property taxes for the first five years.
Councillor Michael Thompson (Scarborough Centre), a member of the committee, will ask to see more details on the spin-off benefits for the local community, in particular the kind and quality of jobs that will eventually materialize.
He said he needs to see the case to justify the city forgoing such a substantial amount of tax revenue.
"It can't be perceived benefits or 'Perhaps it's going to happen.' I want to know materially that it's going to happen, I want to see the evidence that it's going to happen, I want to see it in writing that it's going to happen, I want to see an undertaking that it's going to happen," Mr. Thompson said.
"In essence here, I don't simply want a company to come in and say: 'Oh, we see a loophole or we see an opportunity in this incentive program where we can say to the city you have to provide us with an incentive, otherwise we're not going to invest.' "
Toronto council in May adopted a program of tax relief for companies willing to develop abandoned industrial lands in strategic economic corridors in order to spur the establishment of well-paying jobs in industries like new media. The retail sector was specifically excluded.
Mr. Thompson said it was his understanding Woodbine Live was a done deal.
Its Web site said ground was supposed to have been broken this spring.
But a city report states that the developers have said it won't proceed "unless they are granted greater and longer tax incentives, as well as relief from the city's development charges on the entertainment/ retail, live venue, hotel and outdoor amenity component."
In fact Woodbine Live was seeking incentives worth $147 million over 20 years, but city planners whittled them down to $120-million over that period by proposing large-format retail and parking be excluded from the deal and securing their agreement for job training programs.
Jane Holmes, a spokeswoman for Woodbine Entertainment Group, said the huge new development qualifies for relief as a "transformative project."
"We're building a full-fledged tourist attraction -- the first full-fledged tourist attraction in the GTA since Canada's Wonderland," she said.
As well, it is in a priority neighbourhood in Etobicoke.
Besides jobs -- including 6,400 at Woodbine Live itself, 3,000 in on-site office towers and 8,000 construction positions -- the development will have mass-transit connections and new public areas, she said. There will be a canal, an ice rink and parks.
"All of these public amenities will be free to all visitors of the site," Ms. Holmes said. "There are going to be a mix of all types of jobs … full-time jobs, part-time jobs. You'll have jobs at different levels all the way through."
The need to create employment in a job-starved swath of Etobicoke has made strange bedfellows of Councillor Rob Ford (Etobicoke North) and Mayor David Miller, both of whom support the project.
Mr. Ford, a relentless critic of city spending and tax subsidies, said he has supported the Woodbine Live project all along and definitely agrees with offering tax breaks now.
"I have no problem writing that off for a project of that size," he said. "You can't lose."
Mr. Miller said he believes Woodbine Live would be a good first recipient of Toronto's new tax incentives.
"It's between three neighbourhoods that are marked by poverty. It has a huge parking lot and it's been trying for years to rejuvenate itself. The program that's been agreed to with Woodbine and the developer creates local jobs, creates training programs. The unions are involved, so we know people will be properly protected. They'll have their union rights protected.
"I think it's a win for the whole neighbourhood," the Mayor said. "That's what these tax incentives were designed to do: to help create opportunities for those who don't have them."
Allison Hanes, National Post
Published: Friday, July 04, 2008
The billion-dollar project to transform the Woodbine Racetrack into a full-fledged tourist attraction promises to create more than 8,000 construction jobs, plus 10,000 permanent jobs when it is completed at a hotel, restaurants, retail stores and entertainment venues.
But some city councillors are questioning whether those types of employment qualify Woodbine Live for tax breaks under a new program intended to spur job creation in knowledge-based industries like biotechnology and information technology.
On Tuesday, the economic development committee will consider a proposal to put up $120-million in tax incentives over 20 years for Woodbine Live, including a 90% reduction in property taxes for the first five years.
Councillor Michael Thompson (Scarborough Centre), a member of the committee, will ask to see more details on the spin-off benefits for the local community, in particular the kind and quality of jobs that will eventually materialize.
He said he needs to see the case to justify the city forgoing such a substantial amount of tax revenue.
"It can't be perceived benefits or 'Perhaps it's going to happen.' I want to know materially that it's going to happen, I want to see the evidence that it's going to happen, I want to see it in writing that it's going to happen, I want to see an undertaking that it's going to happen," Mr. Thompson said.
"In essence here, I don't simply want a company to come in and say: 'Oh, we see a loophole or we see an opportunity in this incentive program where we can say to the city you have to provide us with an incentive, otherwise we're not going to invest.' "
Toronto council in May adopted a program of tax relief for companies willing to develop abandoned industrial lands in strategic economic corridors in order to spur the establishment of well-paying jobs in industries like new media. The retail sector was specifically excluded.
Mr. Thompson said it was his understanding Woodbine Live was a done deal.
Its Web site said ground was supposed to have been broken this spring.
But a city report states that the developers have said it won't proceed "unless they are granted greater and longer tax incentives, as well as relief from the city's development charges on the entertainment/ retail, live venue, hotel and outdoor amenity component."
In fact Woodbine Live was seeking incentives worth $147 million over 20 years, but city planners whittled them down to $120-million over that period by proposing large-format retail and parking be excluded from the deal and securing their agreement for job training programs.
Jane Holmes, a spokeswoman for Woodbine Entertainment Group, said the huge new development qualifies for relief as a "transformative project."
"We're building a full-fledged tourist attraction -- the first full-fledged tourist attraction in the GTA since Canada's Wonderland," she said.
As well, it is in a priority neighbourhood in Etobicoke.
Besides jobs -- including 6,400 at Woodbine Live itself, 3,000 in on-site office towers and 8,000 construction positions -- the development will have mass-transit connections and new public areas, she said. There will be a canal, an ice rink and parks.
"All of these public amenities will be free to all visitors of the site," Ms. Holmes said. "There are going to be a mix of all types of jobs … full-time jobs, part-time jobs. You'll have jobs at different levels all the way through."
The need to create employment in a job-starved swath of Etobicoke has made strange bedfellows of Councillor Rob Ford (Etobicoke North) and Mayor David Miller, both of whom support the project.
Mr. Ford, a relentless critic of city spending and tax subsidies, said he has supported the Woodbine Live project all along and definitely agrees with offering tax breaks now.
"I have no problem writing that off for a project of that size," he said. "You can't lose."
Mr. Miller said he believes Woodbine Live would be a good first recipient of Toronto's new tax incentives.
"It's between three neighbourhoods that are marked by poverty. It has a huge parking lot and it's been trying for years to rejuvenate itself. The program that's been agreed to with Woodbine and the developer creates local jobs, creates training programs. The unions are involved, so we know people will be properly protected. They'll have their union rights protected.
"I think it's a win for the whole neighbourhood," the Mayor said. "That's what these tax incentives were designed to do: to help create opportunities for those who don't have them."
