News   Apr 26, 2024
Sustainability Month: ReHousing — A Multiplex How-To Guide Explores What’s Possible in the Yellowbelt
 86     0 
News   Apr 26, 2024
Mattamy's Soleil and Mile & Creek Condos in Milton’s Flourishing Landscape
 143     0 
News   Apr 26, 2024
Galleria on the Park Soon to Welcome First Residents of Masterplanned Community
 565     0 

Mayor John Tory's Toronto

Too early for the full 2021 Toronto budget thread.............but as TPL's operating budget submission for 2021 is headed to its October 19th mtg, a mention here.


From the report; the Open Hours expansion is again deferred, this time supposedly to 2022 and 2023.

The only new asks are covering Covid-related costs, voluntary separation costs (buyouts/early retirements); and some very small gestures towards the Poverty Reduction Strategy.

The Fines Elimination budget enhancement totalling $0.300 million net and gross (2021-2023 total cost of $2.000 million net and gross) seeks to eliminate overdue fines on all materials through a phased-in approach by material audience, beginning with children’s library materials in 2021 and adult library materials in 2022. The TPL Foundation will attempt to fundraise $0.300 million in 2021 to partially offset the $0.600 million budget pressure related to eliminating children’s fines, and a further $0.300 million in 2022 to partially offset the budget pressure related to eliminating adult fines.

Also 4 'community librarians' would be added with a focus on serving vulnerable populations.
 
Nothing makes the public more cynical (excepting outright corruption) than long-winded reports full of bureaucratic jargon that say absolutely nothing!.

Well, Toronto's Office of Recovery and Rebuild is here to heap more public cynicism on the City.

I can't believe anyone gets a pay cheque for generating this morass.


83 recommendations, the vast majority of which are not actionable in any specific way, are not measurable in any specific way and at most, will generate more paperwork and no accomplishment.

Turns of phrase that abound; and offend any mind with a three digit IQ

Continue advocating for (change nothing, no action required)
Work with the Province to examine (think about considering something maybe, if the other guys want to, at some undetermined point in the future)
Establish a process ..... to create the most effective programs (there's no process for establishing effective programs now?}
Work with provincial and federal governments to begin a meaningful and outcomes-based discussion (what? What? We need to work, in order to begin a discussion)
Facilitate innovations in accessibility by playing a convening role (Lets hold meetings!)
Develop indicators that measure social mobility,distribution of economic gains, per capita income (uh, these already exist and are already measured)

Ok....stopping now Sorry.
 
Two years until the October 2022 municipal election. Do you think Tory runs for a third term? I recall him saying he intended to only serve two, but there was some chatter after his re-election in 2020 that he might be reconsidering.
 
I don't see why not. Unless the left can cobble together a contender, which increasingly looks doubtful, his brand of centrist/red tory politics are broad enough to keep winning.
 
mjl08 said:
Two years until the October 2022 municipal election. Do you think Tory runs for a third term? I recall him saying he intended to only serve two, but there was some chatter after his re-election in 2020 that he might be reconsidering.
Click to expand...

I'd prefer to not see him run again, but his milquetoast brand of politics guarantees him victory as long as he chooses to stick around. Even a very strong left wing opponent would have very little to legitimately attack him on.
 
Council split on how to handle new meddling from Doug Ford’s provincial government

From link.

Toronto city council considered three items this week designed to respond to new meddling in local affairs by Doug Ford’s provincial government — but were split on how to deal with it.

On Friday, council voted against asking the federal government to give the city powers under the constitution to provide a firewall against the province and prevent interference on development, elections and more.

The motion was defeated because such a change would itself require provincial buy-in.

“In other words, the provincial government would still hold all the cards,” said Coun. Gord Perks.

Coun. Josh Matlow, who moved the motion, said he hoped council would ask the federal government to lead the conversation about creating “charter city” status for Toronto and giving the city more jurisdiction over its own affairs, whic are now ultimately controlled by the province.

“We can’t keep being non-existent when it comes to governance in this country. Cities don’t exist constitutionally, we are creatures of the province,” Matlow said, adding he believes the federal government is a big supporter of cities.

Coun. John Filion, who seconded the motion, said he thought the motion would draw attention to the “abuse” wrought by Premier Doug Ford’s government, whether it be ranked ballots or the cut to the size of council during the 2018 election.
Click to expand...

The motion ultimately lost 10 to 12.​
​
Councillors Ana Bailao, Gary Crawford, Michael Ford, Mark Grimes, Stephen Holyday, Cynthia Lai, Jennifer McKelvie, Denzil Minnan-Wong, Frances Nunziata, James Pasternak, Gord Perks and Michael Thompson voted against it. Mayor John Tory and councillors Kristyn Wong-Tam and Jaye Robinson were absent.​

Earlier this week, council rejected an attempt to condone the provincial decision to scrap ranked ballots, instead sending a motion from Coun. Shelley Carroll to the mayor’s executive committee for possible debate.
Click to expand...

The motion, which asked the province to withdraw recent changes under Bill 218 — a economic recovery bill — failed to get the two-thirds of votes required to be debated at council.​
​
Councillors Crawford, Ford, Grimes, Holyday, Lai, Minnan-Wong, Nunziata, Pasternak, Anthony Perruzza and Thompson all voted against debating the motion. Tory and Robinson (who is receiving cancer treatment) were absent.​

At the same meeting, councillors heard that the province had issued orders for the West Don Lands, overruling the regular city planning process on three sites.

One of those, a mixed-use development at 373 Front St. East and 90 Mill St., was set to be approved at council.

Instead, Wong-Tam, who represents the area, moved to ask senior city staff to try to work with the development group building that site on provincial land to secure new agreements for community benefits that were scrapped by the provincial order.

Under the city process, city planning and city councillors secure benefits like parkland or daycares or cash-in-lieu of those benefits through what are called section 37 agreements.
Click to expand...

Noticed the "against" Councillors were generally the same Ford Nation followers when the Ford brothers ran Toronto.
 
News release

October 30, 2020

City of Toronto receives federal funding commitment to help address flooding in the Rockcliffe-Smythe neighbourhood

Today, Mayor John Tory, Councillor James Pasternak (Ward York Centre), Infrastructure and Environment Committee Chair; and Councillor Frances Nunziata (Ward York-South Weston) joined the Government of Canada to announce a commitment of a $19 million investment in reducing the impact of severe storms and flooding in Toronto’s Rockcliffe-Smythe neighbourhood. Representing the Federal government at the announcement was the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Member of Parliament for York South – Weston.

The federal government’s funding commitment is being made through its Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF) for Jane Street crossing improvements to mitigate Black Creek flooding in the area. The City of Toronto is contributing $28.5 million to the remaining costs of the project.

The Jane Street crossing improvement project involves expanding the Jane Street crossing over Black Creek. The existing crossing is undersized and results in flooding of Black Creek during extreme events. The project will reduce flooding in the Rockcliffe-Smythe neighbourhood by reconstructing the existing crossing to allow for increased conveyance capacity of Black Creek flood waters underneath. It is a critical component of a broader flood mitigation strategy for the area.

While the Jane Street crossing upgrade will provide some flood relief, it will enable the implementation of additional flood mitigation measures, such as river widening and larger crossings, which will protect the area from flooding. These changes are needed so the river can be widened to reduce water levels within the river system. Once that is done, basement flooding protection work in the area can be effective.

In recent years, the Rockcliffe-Smythe community, near Jane Street and Eglinton Avenue West, has been affected by heavy rains – the area has suffered from flooding during heavy downpours and flash floods. During heavy rain, the sewer systems and overland drainage routes, such as roads, local rivers and streams can become overloaded, which has led to basement flooding.

In response, the City has been working in collaboration with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). Each has completed environmental studies of the area seeking options to reduce sewer system, overland and riverine flooding.

Construction of flood mitigation measures is expected to begin after 2024. An updated Environmental Assessment will begin this fall.
 
DSC said:
News release

October 30, 2020

City of Toronto receives federal funding commitment to help address flooding in the Rockcliffe-Smythe neighbourhood

Today, Mayor John Tory, Councillor James Pasternak (Ward York Centre), Infrastructure and Environment Committee Chair; and Councillor Frances Nunziata (Ward York-South Weston) joined the Government of Canada to announce a commitment of a $19 million investment in reducing the impact of severe storms and flooding in Toronto’s Rockcliffe-Smythe neighbourhood. Representing the Federal government at the announcement was the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Member of Parliament for York South – Weston.

The federal government’s funding commitment is being made through its Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF) for Jane Street crossing improvements to mitigate Black Creek flooding in the area. The City of Toronto is contributing $28.5 million to the remaining costs of the project.

The Jane Street crossing improvement project involves expanding the Jane Street crossing over Black Creek. The existing crossing is undersized and results in flooding of Black Creek during extreme events. The project will reduce flooding in the Rockcliffe-Smythe neighbourhood by reconstructing the existing crossing to allow for increased conveyance capacity of Black Creek flood waters underneath. It is a critical component of a broader flood mitigation strategy for the area.

While the Jane Street crossing upgrade will provide some flood relief, it will enable the implementation of additional flood mitigation measures, such as river widening and larger crossings, which will protect the area from flooding. These changes are needed so the river can be widened to reduce water levels within the river system. Once that is done, basement flooding protection work in the area can be effective.

In recent years, the Rockcliffe-Smythe community, near Jane Street and Eglinton Avenue West, has been affected by heavy rains – the area has suffered from flooding during heavy downpours and flash floods. During heavy rain, the sewer systems and overland drainage routes, such as roads, local rivers and streams can become overloaded, which has led to basement flooding.

In response, the City has been working in collaboration with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). Each has completed environmental studies of the area seeking options to reduce sewer system, overland and riverine flooding.

Construction of flood mitigation measures is expected to begin after 2024. An updated Environmental Assessment will begin this fall.
Click to expand...

For the Jane Street crossing over Black Creek, be sure to include provision for either a surface light rail; or underground "station box" or tunnel(s) for a Jane LRT.
 
The City has installed 17 Electric Vehicle charging stations, on-street.

There is a charge for use.

Presser here: https://www.toronto.ca/news/city-of...reet-electric-vehicle-charging-station-pilot/

The locations for the pilot are as follows:

On-street stations have been installed and activated in the following neighbourhood parking permit locations:
  • Alton Avenue near Queen Street East (two charging stations)
  • Bowmore Road near Eastwood Road (one charging station)
  • Mountjoy Avenue near Gillard Avenue (two charging stations)
  • Palmerston Avenue near Queen Street West (two charging stations)
  • Shaw Street near Dundas Street West (two charging stations)
  • Westlake Avenue near Oakcrest Avenue (two charging stations)

Stations have also been installed and activated at three other locations, including two downtown sites:
  • Commissioners Street near Carlaw Avenue (two charging stations)
  • Elizabeth Street near Foster Place (two charging stations)
  • Wellington Street West near Clarence Square (two charging stations)
From the presser:

The charging station parking spots are open to all electric vehicle owners with a “Level 2” connection on their vehicle. Overnight, when permit parking regulations are in effect, only permit holders with an electric vehicle that is actively being charged (plugged in) can park in these spots. Users will be charged a rate to charge their electric vehicle. Toronto Hydro, in agreement with the City of Toronto, established the EV charging rates, which are competitive with the cost of other public charging stations in Toronto.

To use the stations, EV drivers can quickly register for an account online with FLO, Canada’s Largest EV charging network. Once signed up, users can download the app and order a FLO card that they will use to activate the station and charge their vehicle.
 
1605195096-20201112-propertytaxrates.jpg


From link.

Buying a house in Toronto, if you're one of the few who can actually afford to do so anymore, is exorbitantly expensive when looking at the purchase straight on: The average price for a detached residence in the city is now more than $1.5 million.

Proportionately, however, based on the property taxes you'd need to pay every year, it's actually cheaper to live in Toronto than anywhere else in Ontario.

The real estate listing and analysis firm Zoocasa just released a report detailing how Toronto's infamously-low property tax rates came to be, and how Canada's largest city stacks up against 34 other municipalities across the province.

With young people leaving the city in droves to seek out larger, more-affordable spaces in smaller Ontario cities, there's never been a better time to consider just how big an impact this recurring annual expense will have on one's bank account over the years.

"It's important for buyers who are moving to a new municipality to note that the property tax rate their home is subject to and the total amount they pay in taxes every year will change as municipal tax rates vary widely across Ontario," reads the report.

"Depending on the municipality, the difference paid annually can be thousands of dollars depending on the size of the city, its council's operating budget, and even factors such as the health of its housing market."

Zoocasa rounded up #propertytax rates for 2020 across 35 Ontario municipalities, and calculated what homeowners could expect to pay in taxes at three sample assessment values in each region. Read our report here: https://t.co/vUXttdNJPs pic.twitter.com/x36Ew0uJtk
— Zoocasa (@zoocasa) November 12, 2020
Click to expand...

Zoocasa calculated how much homeowners would pay in 35 different Ontario regions based on 2020 property taxes at three different assessment values: $250,000, $500,000 and $1,000,000.

"In Windsor – which features the highest property tax rate among the municipalities included on our list at 1.775679% – a homeowner would pay $8,878 per year in property taxes on a home assessed at $500,000," the report notes.

"By comparison, in the City of Toronto – which has the lowest tax rate at 0.599704% among the municipalities included on our list – a homeowner would pay a comparatively lower $2,999 for a property assessed at $500,000."

Sounds strange, but it's true — though it's important to note that a $500,000 home in Toronto would be much, much smaller, and likely farther away from the downtown core than a similarly-priced home in Southwestern Ontario.

As for why Toronto's property taxes are so comparatively low, Zoocasa explains that it's up to individual city councils to set property tax collection rates.

"In Toronto, for instance, city council has purposely kept the residential tax rate below inflation as a promise to voters," states the report. "Keeping property taxes low can also act as an incentive to draw more buyers to a city’s property market."

The report also notes that cities with "high-valued local real estate and larger populations" have more leeway on keeping tax rates low, as they're collecting more money from more people in more-expensive houses, generating sufficient cash to float the operating budgets of their respective councils.
Click to expand...

And we still have councillors who say we have no money for sidewalk snowplowing or mechanical leaf removal all across the City of Toronto. And the TTC is still underfunded.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top