tkip
Active Member
This is why Ford went nuts over the years at City Hall. Constantly seeing the waste and ever increasing budgets for projects he thought were bankrupting the city.
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- Thread starter jmacmillan
- Start date
This is why Ford went nuts over the years at City Hall. Constantly seeing the waste and ever increasing budgets for projects he thought were bankrupting the city.
CanadianNational
Senior Member
^ "thought" being the humorous aside.
tkip
Active Member
I'll take the word and actions of someone that saw first hand, fom the inside, the financial shape of the city over some random post here on this board any day.
EnviroTO
Senior Member
Sure, these projects were "bankrupting" the city which is why his first course of action was to cut off a revenue stream. Everyone knows that the best way to avoid an almost near certain bankruptcy is to quickly cut off revenue.
CanadianNational
Senior Member
^As far as I can make out, the only thing that our Mayor accurately saw from the inside during his spotty tenure as councillor was the interior of his lunchbox.
College Park
Active Member
Starving the beast - it's a well known conservative strategy to reduce revenue streams (taxation) and then cry poor (cut public projects and weaken 'wasteful' social programs). It's not chicken and egg, it's a deliberate A followed by B.
ladyscraper
man alive
He is wasting a hell of a lot more money than he is saving so far... "save a penny and spend a dollar" seems to be his motto.
tkip
Active Member
Please provide proof. Making statements without backing claims isn't convincing. And didn't Miller try to spend this city into a black hole?
jje1000
Senior Member
- Cancelling Transit City and incurring cancellation fees and wasting grant money from the federal government.
- Cancelling the Fort York Bridge which was already budgeted for, thus wasting money spent on plans and losing potential money gained from higher land values.
- Cancelling city-paid Councillor lunches and restricting office budgets while ignoring the $700-million dollar shortfall made worse by the cancellation of the vehicle registration tax and potential cancellation of the land transfer tax.
Tkip, it's not really too hard to see the truth in ladyscaper's statement. Miller may have been fiscally irresponsible, but Ford will be much, much worse.
MDV3
Active Member
i understand that most people feel tied up over our city spending way too much money BUT.... without money being spent then obviously we wont get money back.... plus things need change to stay alive... things need to move... improve... spending money is good guys. Taxes = good .... now i dont have to pay them yet but i think we all have to remember what this money goes to.. and how it really does come back to us.... although.. slightly different... 
but by all means fight against overpricing
but by all means fight against overpricing tkip
Active Member
Remains to be seen. Ford obviously thought that TC was a colossal waste and decided it was worth cancelling contracts.
Do I agree with this? Not entirely. I would have looked at a plan that combined both LRT and subways. I think both Miller and Ford dropped the ball with transit. As for the bridge? Was the money budgeted before he came to power? I don't know. 22 million for a pedestrian bridge seems a little pricey. Probably why Ford wanted it axed.
As for the deficit and Miller and Ford? We'll find out soon enough. Ford inherited a financial mess no doubt.
Do I agree with this? Not entirely. I would have looked at a plan that combined both LRT and subways. I think both Miller and Ford dropped the ball with transit. As for the bridge? Was the money budgeted before he came to power? I don't know. 22 million for a pedestrian bridge seems a little pricey. Probably why Ford wanted it axed.
As for the deficit and Miller and Ford? We'll find out soon enough. Ford inherited a financial mess no doubt.
GraphicMatt
Looking forward to a FRESH START for Toronto
Regardless of your view on Transit City, the cancellation penalties the city will pay are new costs to the city created entirely by Ford.
More significantly, designating the TTC an essential service will cost the city significantly once they are awarded a substantial raise. Ford also awarded the police union their biggest increase in quite some time -- he can't even blame an arbitrator for that one as it was a negotiated settlement.
The $3 million we're spending on consultants to conduct this 'core service review' erases any savings found through token gestures like eliminating food at council meetings, freezing councillor salaries, etc.
More significantly, designating the TTC an essential service will cost the city significantly once they are awarded a substantial raise. Ford also awarded the police union their biggest increase in quite some time -- he can't even blame an arbitrator for that one as it was a negotiated settlement.
The $3 million we're spending on consultants to conduct this 'core service review' erases any savings found through token gestures like eliminating food at council meetings, freezing councillor salaries, etc.
gristle
Senior Member
Don't forget the possible cancellation fees from Bombardier for alterations in train orders. And how much did canceling the Shepard LRT line cost us?
Tulse
Senior Member
Wasn't Miller's 2010 budget balanced?
UrbanAffair
Senior Member
YES, it was! And compared to other major cities, NYC, Chicago, Edmonton, Winnipeg etc... Miller´s budgeting was very tight and we were in much better financial shape than those cities named above. The key was we were, and we are not anymore. Good luck balancing this years budget with Ford´s revenue cutting measures.