News   Jun 28, 2024
Streetsville Centre Plaza Redevelopment Proposed North of GO Station in Mississauga
 4.6K     6 
News   Jun 28, 2024
GALA Developments Unveils Danny Danforth in Toronto's East End
 1.9K     3 
News   Jun 28, 2024
News Roundup for June 28, 2024
 682     1 

Rob Ford's Toronto

Status
Not open for further replies.
I'm not sure, but I thought I read somewhere that municipalities can't impose a sales tax?
 
If you missed it, here's the video of 14-year-old Anika Tabovaradan, who The Grid says: "wept through the entirety of her speech because of her fear of public speaking, explaining that the computers at Willowdale library are her only chance to do homework: 'I’m no taxpayer but by working on the computers at the library, one day I can get a good job'—at which full grown men and women in the press gallery cried. (Really.)"

But Mayor Ford was not moved. All he could muster was an indifferent "Is that it, is that the end of your deputation?" You might have hoped our mayor would have managed a simple, "You did great, Anika. Thanks for speaking." Cold.

http://youtu.be/WmbmS-tB6-E
 
Last edited:
I don't believe the City of Toronto has the legal ability to impose a sales tax currently. That's not to say that they couldn't lobby for it. A 1% sales tax would bring in an estimated $400 million, essentially wiping out the city's structural deficit. I agree that it'd be more workable as a GTA-wide tax, though.

I doubt we'll ever see the vehicle registration tax come back, but if we ever did, I'd advocate a return to an idea floated by Adam Vaughan back when the fee was first introduced: peg the annual cost of vehicle registration at the cost of one monthly Metropass.
 
I also like the idea (I believe someone brought it up last night, although it may have only been a tweet) to have the vehicle registration tax linked to the size/type of vehicle so a Smart Car would be taxed at a lower rate than an Escalade, for example.
 
with respect to a sales tax, the people living at the edges of the city could avoid it for sure - that's okay, they are probably the people who could use a break.

There's no way someone living downtown would drive across the city to save 1% or 2% a statistically meaningful portion of the time.
 
PinkLucy said:
I also like the idea (I believe someone brought it up last night, although it may have only been a tweet) to have the vehicle registration tax linked to the size/type of vehicle so a Smart Car would be taxed at a lower rate than an Escalade, for example.
Click to expand...
That also makes a great deal of sense in terms of road wear and tear -- a heavier vehicle is much harder on a road surface than a lighter vehicle.
 
grey said:
Kristyn Wong-Tam? Yeah, she's really good.


Mammoliti: "i don't want to contribute to the fearmongering going on by the socialists down here. it's a socialist party down here".

What the hell? Mammoliti used to be a member of the provincial NDP and served in Bob Rae's government. Elected to the province in 1990. This is his ward! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:York_West,_Toronto.png

I think it's a no man's land after today. It's a really divided community. Biggest groups are Italians, then Punjabis and Vietnamese. I think he's milking the Italian vote to keep getting in and the new immgirants can't get involved.
Click to expand...

Mammoliti was an NDPer? Really? I did not know that. lol Too funny. Now that f%#ker is all about anti-socialist bull-shit.

What a Fing hypocrite!
 
tkip said:
Did it occur to you that others in this city don't share this view? I want good services but I also want bang for buck. We don't get this.

My street hasn't been done in several years. It's falling apart. All these so-called superior services and the city can't fix this street? And I live in a nice neighborhood. This city isn't well managed at all. We all know this. We're not addressing the underlying issue at all. Poor management/delivery of services.

But some people don't want cuts, ever and they want the rest to shoulder all costs till their grave.
Click to expand...

Neutral observer (deadpan): You are all a bunch of hyper partisan hacks.

Did I summarize correctly?

With regards to the comments about lie-berries and Atwood from Doug Ford, the suggestion that he is capable of being subtle enough with the English language to mean anything other than what was literally expressed... is funny.
 
If re-implementing the vehicle tax would be unfeasible in the short term - then how about road tolls or congestion charges? It seems fair. If I do not want to pay the road toll or congestion charge I can walk, bike, take transit or take a longer route with my car. Nobody is forcing me to pay the road toll. I still have options.

Businesses can subsidize it for out of town employees. Large corporations give out or subsidize transit passes, so it shouldn't be that much of a problem for them.

I know this idea was floated before, and is unpopular, but, it should be revisited.
 
Automation Gallery said:
Yeah im for it..also makes sense if you want to ride your bikes on our streets, licence them yearly say 10-15 bucks a pop.:)
Click to expand...
I know you're not being serious, but that is potentially a barrier to cycling. We should be encouraging, not discouraging cycling. A similar motion was recently made in L.A. and it was unanimously rejected on the same grounds. Getting more people onto bikes will save massive amounts of money on road maintenence. Those savings are far more considerable than any licencing fee.

Cycling is not an economic burden on a city like automobiles. Minimal space is needed for storage/parking. A vast majority of riders do their business locally, improving or sustaining the local businesses, not out of necessity, but out of expediency, which benefits their communities.
 
Last edited:
If licencing fees meant better protection for cyclists under the law and better infrastructure, then I'm all for it. But the fees would have to be much higher than 10-15 bucks per bike, and that brings us back into barrier territory.

More realistically, such a tax would go to anything but bicycling, its proponents, and accessibility.

Once in a while bike licences are proposed in Copenhagen. Unfortunately nobody has any idea of how to licence 500,000 daily cyclists.
 
Last edited:
They don't need to start charging for a bicycle license - more people on bikes is a good thing. If they want to increase revenues from cyclists, simply start enforcing the Highway Traffic Act more evenly and there will be plenty of revenues generated from the fines that are levied. It's not like there's any shortage of infractions to target and the more cyclists you have, the more of an effort that needs to be made to ensure they're operating safely not just for themselves, but for drivers, transit users and pedestrians as well.
 
The Toronto Star has a "fix the budget" calculator. It was actually a lot easier to fix than I thought and required only one cut.
Cuts - Police (savings of $195million)
Revenue increases: unused 2010 surplus ($88million), 2011 Surplus ($50million), Hydro/Enwave Dividends ($15million), Land Transfer Tax ($25million), Assessment Growth ($30million), Other Revenue ($46million)
Taxes/Fee Increases 13% tax hike and 10 cent TTC fare hike.
Result: Short only $1.2million, essentially a rounding error.

If you're curious about the details check out the site to see where the money comes from.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top