AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
From the Globe, by John Barber:
Radical proposal under all those goofy ideas: Tax incentives for developers creating jobs
John Barber
The Globe and Mail
Nov 28, 2007 A16
Yesterday Toronto deputy mayor Joe Pantalone invoked the highest principles of social justice in his impassioned plea on behalf of the most vulnerable Torontonians - "the people with carts" - protesting the Royal Ontario Museum's request to remove a pesky vendor from the postcard view of its new Crystal.
Perhaps he was inspired by last week's grand ideological outcry against a plan to introduce new street foods on city-owned carts, which elevated a modest proposal into a dangerous Communist plot. Vendo-mania has overtaken city hall!
If that isn't sufficiently entertaining, you can enjoy fairy stories about Councillor Rob Ford being "reprimanded" for "not spending enough taxpayer's money," as one news outlet reported yesterday. Or surf to the unpalatable Etobicoker's website to find out how much deputy mayor Sandra Bussin spent on "hard liquor" during dinner breaks from council last month.
Or join in the vigorous debate now rocking city hall as to whether or not councillors should be shot, as one columnist demanded, which inspired an indignant Mayor David Miller to invoke the sacred name of "my Uncle Jim, who fought for the right to debate and discuss public policy."
And if none of that's enough to grab you, we can rescue another goofy idea from the reject pile - like a municipal tax on bottled water - and pretend it's about to happen. When it becomes impossible to disguise the fact that the mayor and senior city staff rejected the proposal months ago, killing all chance of it being implemented, we can find another outrage for your amusement.
As an alternative, you might consider the emergence of major new policy that promises to transform Toronto - in particular a new report from top officials recommending lavish cash incentives for new commercial development anywhere in the city. It's dull stuff, but something has to fill the back pages.
Some might even call it radical. After years standing on the sidelines while competing cities lavished developers with grants and bonuses, Toronto is about to enter the game in a big way. Under the new plan promoted by deputy city managers Sue Corke and Joseph Pennachetti, developers could soon be receiving millions of dollars in grants to locate new jobs within city limits.
The fundamental fact driving the new policy, so easy to overlook amid the ideological warfare, is that Toronto has lost 54,000 jobs over the past 17 years, a period during which the 905 region gained more than 700,000 new jobs.
Modest efforts to reduce business taxes have overthrown Toronto's reputation as Canada's most heavily taxed city - the new champion being Vancouver - but they have done little to encourage new investment. Recognizing that, the new report recommends incentives so generous no investor could fail to notice.
The heart of the proposed scheme is something called a "tax increment equivalent grant" (TIEG) that developers will receive to build new workplaces that increase a property's assessment by an amount equivalent to the grant. The grants will be "funded entirely from new incremental tax revenues that, but for the provision of financial incentives, the city may not otherwise have realized," according to the report.
In effect, the scheme would create a 10-year tax holiday for any significant development that produces good jobs - with the savings offered up front, in cash. Having pussyfooted around it for years, the city is preparing an uncharacteristically bold response to a nagging problem.
The only danger is that the inmates of city hall might become bored with their current diversions and turn their attention to serious economics. Although unlikely to occur, that could wreck everything.
_________________________________________________________________
And here is the city report:
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2007/ed/bgrd/backgroundfile-8924.pdf
AoD
Radical proposal under all those goofy ideas: Tax incentives for developers creating jobs
John Barber
The Globe and Mail
Nov 28, 2007 A16
Yesterday Toronto deputy mayor Joe Pantalone invoked the highest principles of social justice in his impassioned plea on behalf of the most vulnerable Torontonians - "the people with carts" - protesting the Royal Ontario Museum's request to remove a pesky vendor from the postcard view of its new Crystal.
Perhaps he was inspired by last week's grand ideological outcry against a plan to introduce new street foods on city-owned carts, which elevated a modest proposal into a dangerous Communist plot. Vendo-mania has overtaken city hall!
If that isn't sufficiently entertaining, you can enjoy fairy stories about Councillor Rob Ford being "reprimanded" for "not spending enough taxpayer's money," as one news outlet reported yesterday. Or surf to the unpalatable Etobicoker's website to find out how much deputy mayor Sandra Bussin spent on "hard liquor" during dinner breaks from council last month.
Or join in the vigorous debate now rocking city hall as to whether or not councillors should be shot, as one columnist demanded, which inspired an indignant Mayor David Miller to invoke the sacred name of "my Uncle Jim, who fought for the right to debate and discuss public policy."
And if none of that's enough to grab you, we can rescue another goofy idea from the reject pile - like a municipal tax on bottled water - and pretend it's about to happen. When it becomes impossible to disguise the fact that the mayor and senior city staff rejected the proposal months ago, killing all chance of it being implemented, we can find another outrage for your amusement.
As an alternative, you might consider the emergence of major new policy that promises to transform Toronto - in particular a new report from top officials recommending lavish cash incentives for new commercial development anywhere in the city. It's dull stuff, but something has to fill the back pages.
Some might even call it radical. After years standing on the sidelines while competing cities lavished developers with grants and bonuses, Toronto is about to enter the game in a big way. Under the new plan promoted by deputy city managers Sue Corke and Joseph Pennachetti, developers could soon be receiving millions of dollars in grants to locate new jobs within city limits.
The fundamental fact driving the new policy, so easy to overlook amid the ideological warfare, is that Toronto has lost 54,000 jobs over the past 17 years, a period during which the 905 region gained more than 700,000 new jobs.
Modest efforts to reduce business taxes have overthrown Toronto's reputation as Canada's most heavily taxed city - the new champion being Vancouver - but they have done little to encourage new investment. Recognizing that, the new report recommends incentives so generous no investor could fail to notice.
The heart of the proposed scheme is something called a "tax increment equivalent grant" (TIEG) that developers will receive to build new workplaces that increase a property's assessment by an amount equivalent to the grant. The grants will be "funded entirely from new incremental tax revenues that, but for the provision of financial incentives, the city may not otherwise have realized," according to the report.
In effect, the scheme would create a 10-year tax holiday for any significant development that produces good jobs - with the savings offered up front, in cash. Having pussyfooted around it for years, the city is preparing an uncharacteristically bold response to a nagging problem.
The only danger is that the inmates of city hall might become bored with their current diversions and turn their attention to serious economics. Although unlikely to occur, that could wreck everything.
_________________________________________________________________
And here is the city report:
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2007/ed/bgrd/backgroundfile-8924.pdf
AoD
