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City Faces Fiscal Crisis

Sure is a good thing that they killed the COLA and stole the re-earnable performance increase from the Non-Union staff to the tune of $20 million while utterly capitulating to L416 and 79 for a total of 6% over the next three years.

Only plus on this is that from out of a nightmare a great leader comes along. After the catastrophe that was Bush, America got Obama.

After the prolonged nightmare of incompetence and idiocy that is Miller we're due for someone of Churchillian magnitude in greatness.
 
Churchwellian magnitude ... this is city politics, if the person has vision and isn't corrupt then he IS of Churchlllian magnitude. We just had him ... I have no idea who will be next, but I doubt that they'll do anything of any substance.

I'm not sure I'd vote for anyone who has expressed interest in the job!
 
nfitz said:
It's the same bait and switch they pulled with the last TTC fare hike, when they announced that to deal with a shortage of $ they would have to close the Sheppard subway and significantly cut off-peak service - only to turn around and raise fares instead, to "save" the Sheppard service.
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That had to do with council voting down the Land Transfer and Vehicle Registration tax, didn't it? Council refused to pass it so Miller started threatening to shut down all sorts of things to make up the huge shortfall.

As far as the city's budget goes, I'm not convinced anyone could really balance it while maintaining necessary levels of service given the current realities surrounding taxes and city politics.
 
nfitz said:
Bingo ... time to raise the taxes to the levels they pay in the surburbs.
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Exactly. And my biggest criticism of Miller is that he didn't try to start that conversation. I don't care about left/right politics. He didn't do what needed to get done. And that's to get residents talking about taxes, the city's debt, services, etc.
 
You can't talk big hikes in residential property taxes and win an election. Especially when your 'fiscally conservative' opponent says they'll avoid tax hikes and retain city services, balancing the budget through the legendary (mythical) tactic of 'finding efficiencies and eliminating waste.'

Now that Miller's not running, he could start the conversation now. But given the relative lack of power the mayor holds normally - and the diminished power he holds now as a 'lame duck' - I'm not sure council would even consider it. They want to get reelected too.
 
GraphicMatt said:
You can't talk big hikes in residential property taxes and win an election.
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And you can't run a city without the funds. Chasing away the portion of your revenue base that provides a vast surplus of funds, to the benefit of the portion that consumes the most, is not sustainable.
 
every other GTA municipality has had enormous hikes on property taxes. But they're different in that the residents there rarely know or care who their mayor is.
 
That and the media concentrates on Toronto's property tax hikes and completely ignores the fact that York, Peel and Durham regularly up their property taxes by 5-8% per year, with not much yelling and screaming from constituents.

When Toronto does it by 3-4%, people yell, scream and protest, yet no one wants to cut services, and expects TTC to improve and more police, etc..
 
Having said that, I think huge efficiencies can still be found, such as slicing each councillors office budget and making them due more with less human resources. The IT systems and processes in the bureaucracy could be improved. More items should be available online rather than going to the city offices.

There are too many staff in the City of Toronto. The police budget could be reduced slightly by not allowing as much OT, same goes with TTC. Officers and TTC operators should not be earning $100K by milking OT.

It leads to burn-out and stress. If they need the resources, hire new people. The city needs to look at all departments and find ways to trim the fat. Corporations are able to squeeze out more from their people, and so should the city.
 
lead82 said:
There are too many staff in the City of Toronto. The police budget could be reduced slightly by not allowing as much OT, same goes with TTC. Officers and TTC operators should not be earning $100K by milking OT.

It leads to burn-out and stress. If they need the resources, hire new people. The city needs to look at all departments and find ways to trim the fat. Corporations are able to squeeze out more from their people, and so should the city.
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Obviously the ideal is to have ample employees, but unfortunately good employees are hard to find. Your suggestion that OT be capped will only lead to a shortage of bus drivers, and that's not going to help anyone.

If someone willingly will do $100K worth of work, he should be respected for his commitment, and not become a scapegoat.
 
Yes it's stupid ... they really want to be taking a % of the GST/PST (or new HST)

But that won't happen ... it's simple, increase residential propety tax 20% ... that will probably still make us the lowest in the GTA.

People who complain can move.
 
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