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From the Globe:
City's finances could get boost from elections
JAMES RUSK
With a report from Canadian Press
With a federal and provincial election in the offing, the political forces seem to be aligning for changes that would improve Toronto's precarious finances, according to those most actively pressing for change.
The latest development came this week with the publication of a report from the Conference Board of Canada, saying that the plight of Canadian cities facing a fiscal crisis should be a national priority.
"With this excellent report from the Conference Board, the common fact base is getting pretty undeniable," said David Pecaut, chair of the Toronto City Summit Alliance, which will hold a two-day conference on Toronto's future late this month.
"It's a bit like the debate on global warming. As the fact base gets more and more unassailable, people really have to grapple with solutions instead of talking about whether we have got the problem defined correctly. I think people are not disputing the nature of the problem now," Mr. Pecaut said in an interview.
The breakdown of the 2004 budgets of Canada's 10 major cities prepared by the Conference Board shows that Toronto has the highest level of per capita spending, with Ottawa in second place.
That is largely attributed to the provincial downloading of social services and housing in the 1990s by the Harris government, which left Toronto and Ottawa the only two of the 10 cities with high levels of spending on these items.
"Ontario is the only province that has this huge burden and it is one of the only jurisdictions in the world," Mr. Pecaut said.
Of the $3,123 a head that Toronto spent in 2004, $613 went for social and family services and $291 for social housing. The other two items where the board found that Toronto spent the most per capita were transportation, at $761 (offset by income from TTC fares), and police and fire at $519.
Just as the analysis of the city's fiscal challenges has become established, a consensus on what needs to be done to ensure Toronto's financial sustainability seems to be coming together.
Mr. Pecaut said that, while progress has been made in the past few years -- the burden of GST has been taken off the city and both Ottawa and the province are giving it a share of the gas tax -- three further steps have to be taken if Toronto is to succeed:
The city needs access to tax revenue that grows with the economy;
Social-service and housing costs must be uploaded to the province;
Long-term funding is needed to support transit and transportation.
Anne Golden, president of the Conference Board of Canada, took a similar position in an appearance yesterday at the Toronto Board of Trade, but added another step that all big cities must take.
They must be prepared to do more with the tools they already have -- and that includes raising property taxes in line with inflation and increasing user fees, Ms. Golden said.
Mayor David Miller told reporters he agreed with the Conference Board's findings and interpreted Ms. Golden's remarks to mean that she supported his request that the province turn over to the city one percentage point of sales tax revenues generated here.
However, in an interview, Ms. Golden cautioned that while she supports city access to a revenue source such as sales tax, she thinks that for the sake of political accountability, taxes should be levied by the governments that spend the money.
Premier Dalton McGuinty told reporters that the Conference Board study shows it is time for a review of the fiscal relationship among all levels of government in Canada.
"We've got to realign this in a way that suits Canadians," he said. "As difficult as it may be to admit for prime ministers and premiers alike, the fact of the matter is that our cities have become our centres of innovation and wealth generation."
Overworked engines?
Cities are engines of prosperity, a new report by the Conference Board of Canada says. But are they being neglected by higher governments?
Retreat from responsibility
The municipal share of revenues from provincial and federal taxes shrank between 1993 and 2004.
1993 share of municipal revenues
Property and other taxes: 48.8%
User fees: 18.5%
Other internal sources: 7.1%
Transfers from provincial and federal governments 25.4%
2004 share of municipal revenues
Property and other taxes: 53.3%
User fees: 23.4%
Other internal sources: 7.5%
Transfers from provincial and federal governments: 15.9%
NOTE: Percentages do not add up to 100 because of rounding.
The Ontario factor
In Toronto and Ottawa, the cost of social services downloaded by the province amounts to hundreds of dollars a year for each citizen.
2004 spending per person for health, social and family services         2004 total spending per person excluding health, social and family services
Toronto         $738         $2,385
Ottawa         $577         $1,885
Calgary         $92         $1,949
Montreal         $65         $1,978
Greater Vancouver        $45         $1,839
Saskatoon         $24         $1,832
Edmonton         $22         $1,976
Winnipeg         0        $1,437
Halifax         0        $1,749
Regina         0        $1,500
SOURCES: THE CONFERENCE BOARD OF CANADA, STATISTICS CANADA
AoD
City's finances could get boost from elections
JAMES RUSK
With a report from Canadian Press
With a federal and provincial election in the offing, the political forces seem to be aligning for changes that would improve Toronto's precarious finances, according to those most actively pressing for change.
The latest development came this week with the publication of a report from the Conference Board of Canada, saying that the plight of Canadian cities facing a fiscal crisis should be a national priority.
"With this excellent report from the Conference Board, the common fact base is getting pretty undeniable," said David Pecaut, chair of the Toronto City Summit Alliance, which will hold a two-day conference on Toronto's future late this month.
"It's a bit like the debate on global warming. As the fact base gets more and more unassailable, people really have to grapple with solutions instead of talking about whether we have got the problem defined correctly. I think people are not disputing the nature of the problem now," Mr. Pecaut said in an interview.
The breakdown of the 2004 budgets of Canada's 10 major cities prepared by the Conference Board shows that Toronto has the highest level of per capita spending, with Ottawa in second place.
That is largely attributed to the provincial downloading of social services and housing in the 1990s by the Harris government, which left Toronto and Ottawa the only two of the 10 cities with high levels of spending on these items.
"Ontario is the only province that has this huge burden and it is one of the only jurisdictions in the world," Mr. Pecaut said.
Of the $3,123 a head that Toronto spent in 2004, $613 went for social and family services and $291 for social housing. The other two items where the board found that Toronto spent the most per capita were transportation, at $761 (offset by income from TTC fares), and police and fire at $519.
Just as the analysis of the city's fiscal challenges has become established, a consensus on what needs to be done to ensure Toronto's financial sustainability seems to be coming together.
Mr. Pecaut said that, while progress has been made in the past few years -- the burden of GST has been taken off the city and both Ottawa and the province are giving it a share of the gas tax -- three further steps have to be taken if Toronto is to succeed:
The city needs access to tax revenue that grows with the economy;
Social-service and housing costs must be uploaded to the province;
Long-term funding is needed to support transit and transportation.
Anne Golden, president of the Conference Board of Canada, took a similar position in an appearance yesterday at the Toronto Board of Trade, but added another step that all big cities must take.
They must be prepared to do more with the tools they already have -- and that includes raising property taxes in line with inflation and increasing user fees, Ms. Golden said.
Mayor David Miller told reporters he agreed with the Conference Board's findings and interpreted Ms. Golden's remarks to mean that she supported his request that the province turn over to the city one percentage point of sales tax revenues generated here.
However, in an interview, Ms. Golden cautioned that while she supports city access to a revenue source such as sales tax, she thinks that for the sake of political accountability, taxes should be levied by the governments that spend the money.
Premier Dalton McGuinty told reporters that the Conference Board study shows it is time for a review of the fiscal relationship among all levels of government in Canada.
"We've got to realign this in a way that suits Canadians," he said. "As difficult as it may be to admit for prime ministers and premiers alike, the fact of the matter is that our cities have become our centres of innovation and wealth generation."
Overworked engines?
Cities are engines of prosperity, a new report by the Conference Board of Canada says. But are they being neglected by higher governments?
Retreat from responsibility
The municipal share of revenues from provincial and federal taxes shrank between 1993 and 2004.
1993 share of municipal revenues
Property and other taxes: 48.8%
User fees: 18.5%
Other internal sources: 7.1%
Transfers from provincial and federal governments 25.4%
2004 share of municipal revenues
Property and other taxes: 53.3%
User fees: 23.4%
Other internal sources: 7.5%
Transfers from provincial and federal governments: 15.9%
NOTE: Percentages do not add up to 100 because of rounding.
The Ontario factor
In Toronto and Ottawa, the cost of social services downloaded by the province amounts to hundreds of dollars a year for each citizen.
2004 spending per person for health, social and family services         2004 total spending per person excluding health, social and family services
Toronto         $738         $2,385
Ottawa         $577         $1,885
Calgary         $92         $1,949
Montreal         $65         $1,978
Greater Vancouver        $45         $1,839
Saskatoon         $24         $1,832
Edmonton         $22         $1,976
Winnipeg         0        $1,437
Halifax         0        $1,749
Regina         0        $1,500
SOURCES: THE CONFERENCE BOARD OF CANADA, STATISTICS CANADA
AoD