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Transit wins big in budget
Some councillor shocked as TTC given 51 per cent of capital spending
JENNIFER LEWINGTON
CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF; With a report from Jeff Gray
Public transit, the Cookie Monster of the city's 2007 capital budget, will eat up more than half of $1.4-billion in spending unveiled yesterday.
Despite new funds for roads, parks and other core services, the city faces a mounting backlog of repairs now estimated at an extra $300-million over the next five years.
The one-two punch -- a transit-heavy capital budget and inadequate dollars for upkeep of community centres, roads and bridges -- alarmed several councillors at yesterday's budget committee.
"It is shocking that 51 per cent of our capital budget is going into one sector," said Councillor Kyle Rae (Toronto Centre-Rosedale). "We're no longer operating as a city, we are operating as a transit authority with a little bit of stuff on the side," he said, still hoping he can redirect some transit money to parks.
Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong (Don Valley East), a member of council's right-wing minority, said that the current repair backlog of $1.1-billion this year is slated to rise to $1.4-billion in 2011.
He said the trend is ample evidence that "the city is falling apart and we are not doing enough to stop the decline," critical that Mayor David Miller and his allies have done too little to find new sources of revenue, such as user fees, nor have they cut programs.
"There is no hope in sight and it is going to get worse," he said.
Budget chief Shelley Carroll, councillor for Don Valley East, makes no apologies for what she describes as a "transit budget" that includes funds for 124 kilometres of roads, 16 bridges, a $76-million training facility, new parks and recreation facilities for underserved neighbourhoods and investments to boost the volume of garbage diverted from landfill.
While the city plans to spend $60.5-million on capital projects for parks and recreation, including $11.4-million in poor neighbourhoods, the backlog on repairs to aging community centres, parks and swimming pools continues to grow.
The current parks backlog of $134-million is expected to climb to $266.9-million by 2011.
While sensitive to the complaints, Ms. Carroll says "I'd be ready to vote for it [the budget] tomorrow. This is a viable budget that maintains our credit rating and makes a sound investment in the city."
Several critics argue that road improvements get short shrift in the capital budget that goes for public consultation starting today. This year, the city plans to spend $246.2-million on roads, bridges, sidewalks and bike lanes, of which 54 per cent (or $132.3-million) is for upkeep and only 11 per cent (or $26.9-million) for improved service.
Meanwhile, the current backlog for road repairs and related upkeep stands at $301-million, including $163-million for major and local roads and sidewalks, $49-million for bridge rehabilitation and $89-million for improvements to the western end of the Gardiner Expressway. City officials estimate the backlog will climb to $422-million in 2011.
Two years ago, city officials had pledged to wipe out the backlog in 10 years. Now the city would need to spend $197-million a year extra to eliminate it by 2016.
"By not placing money into this backlog, this council is putting the safety of City of Toronto residents at risk," says Canadian Automobile Association spokeswoman Faye Lyons, citing a recent incident when a concrete chunk fell off the Gardiner.
Over the next five years, the city expects to spend $1.8-billion for 234 new subway cars, 1,225 new accessible buses and 204 accessible streetcars, financed in part with federal and provincial government gas-tax money.
But these funds are neither permanent nor secure.
Joe Pennachetti, the city's chief financial officer, told the budget committee that the city does not have a signed agreement for $74-million in federal transit money due last year. But he is "hopeful" that another $150-million expected in 2007 and 2008 will eventually flow to the city.
*****
Budget rides the bus
Spending outlined in the proposed 2007 municipal capital budget is dominated by public transit.
TTC: 51% ($ 717.3million)
Roads, sidewalks, bike paths: 17% ($ 246.2million)
Other programs: 13% ($ 181.6million)
Parks, forestry, recreation: 4% ($ 60.5million)
Police: 4% ($ 50.8million)
Fleet services: 3% ($ 44.9million)
Waterfront: 3% ($ 44.3million)
Facilities and real estate: 2% ($ 33.5million)
Solid waste: 2% ($ 26.1million)
GO Transit: 1% ($ 20million)
SOURCE: CITY OF TORONTO
==============================================
No conspiracy here - but roads will crumble for the TTC's benefit
JOHN BARBER
My apologies, Al, for deriding your conspiracy theory that night on your porch following the delicious meal in your lovely Rosedale home. I was too dismissive when you told me that Tim told you that the Miller administration was deliberately letting local roads go to pot as a means of forcing disgruntled white folk like us to forsake our Volvos for public transit.
Sounds great, I said. But where's the proof? No mere mayor, I claimed, can abolish Toronto's debilitating two-season climate -- six months of road-heaving frost followed by six months of frenzied reconstruction. Nobody wants to make anything worse, but let's face it: This ain't California.
I apologize now because the proof has arrived in black and white, tabular form, down to the last incriminating nickel. The city's latest five-year capital plan, released yesterday, shows that the current administration is more than willing to cancel necessary roadwork to make extra room at the table for the voracious Toronto Transit Commission.
The telltale here is the notorious backlog of necessary repairs to deteriorated roads and bridges, which are estimated to cost $300-million.
At one point, the city adopted a spending plan designed to eliminate the backlog over 10 years. Unwilling or unable to find the money, however, it reverted to a boast that the backlog, although substantial, was at least not growing. Last year, the milleristas surrendered even that claim when they slashed the backlog budget, letting the outstanding amount grow by $50-million to its current level -- a taste of things to come.
Now they have arrived, in the form of more cuts to the backlog-reduction plan. Making the recommended cuts will have the effect of increasing the price of the required repairs to $422-million by 2011, according to the new capital plan. It will also extend the life of the resilient backlog another five years at least -- presuming no more cuts, which hardly seems realistic.
Realistically, the price of deferred road work does not increase at the simple arithmetical rate shown in the latest budget. Put off for three frost-heaving winters, a $50,000 resurfacing becomes a $150,000 reconstruction. In a city like Toronto, a growing backlog of road repairs is a time bomb. Misery will ensue.
Who's to blame? One potential culprit is deputy mayor Joe Pantalone, whose long-coveted project to fix the intersection of Dufferin and Queen Streets is eating a big chunk of the budget. Or Councillor Joe Mihevc and the St. Clair transitway. But such expenditures are minor compared to the billions demanded by the TTC. In a time of scarcity, transit rules.
Budget chief Shelley Carroll expressed pride yesterday in presenting a pro-transit capital budget. What she didn't point out was the sacrifice made to achieve it. But there it is, in black and white: a tested recipe for the accelerated deterioration of basic municipal infrastructure. Faced with steadily crumbling roads, motorists are more likely to buy SUVs than ride transit.
It's still not a conspiracy. The problem is that nobody in a position of power wants to implement the obvious solution: raising enough money to eliminate the backlog as quickly as possible. Considering how fast roads deteriorate when simple maintenance is deferred, the business case for increased investment is bombproof -- a matter of spending a few dollars today to avoid spending many more dollars tomorrow. But neither the city nor the province -- nor, most importantly, the disgruntled white folk -- want to do it.
In the budget, this blindness is expressed in terms of "debt targets." The city can go to ruin as long as its debt doesn't increase, according to prevailing wisdom. And don't even talk about raising taxes.
In the meantime, remember this: You get what you pay for.
My apologies once again.
And again: Councillor Michael Thompson, recently fingered as one of the front-row miscreants who disrupted council's class picture this week, was in fact not part of the protest. He offered to move to help the photographer.
jbarber@globeandmail.com
© Copyright 2007 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.
==============================================
2007 Capital Budget
There's an interesting list of new projects starting on page 27.
Some councillor shocked as TTC given 51 per cent of capital spending
JENNIFER LEWINGTON
CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF; With a report from Jeff Gray
Public transit, the Cookie Monster of the city's 2007 capital budget, will eat up more than half of $1.4-billion in spending unveiled yesterday.
Despite new funds for roads, parks and other core services, the city faces a mounting backlog of repairs now estimated at an extra $300-million over the next five years.
The one-two punch -- a transit-heavy capital budget and inadequate dollars for upkeep of community centres, roads and bridges -- alarmed several councillors at yesterday's budget committee.
"It is shocking that 51 per cent of our capital budget is going into one sector," said Councillor Kyle Rae (Toronto Centre-Rosedale). "We're no longer operating as a city, we are operating as a transit authority with a little bit of stuff on the side," he said, still hoping he can redirect some transit money to parks.
Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong (Don Valley East), a member of council's right-wing minority, said that the current repair backlog of $1.1-billion this year is slated to rise to $1.4-billion in 2011.
He said the trend is ample evidence that "the city is falling apart and we are not doing enough to stop the decline," critical that Mayor David Miller and his allies have done too little to find new sources of revenue, such as user fees, nor have they cut programs.
"There is no hope in sight and it is going to get worse," he said.
Budget chief Shelley Carroll, councillor for Don Valley East, makes no apologies for what she describes as a "transit budget" that includes funds for 124 kilometres of roads, 16 bridges, a $76-million training facility, new parks and recreation facilities for underserved neighbourhoods and investments to boost the volume of garbage diverted from landfill.
While the city plans to spend $60.5-million on capital projects for parks and recreation, including $11.4-million in poor neighbourhoods, the backlog on repairs to aging community centres, parks and swimming pools continues to grow.
The current parks backlog of $134-million is expected to climb to $266.9-million by 2011.
While sensitive to the complaints, Ms. Carroll says "I'd be ready to vote for it [the budget] tomorrow. This is a viable budget that maintains our credit rating and makes a sound investment in the city."
Several critics argue that road improvements get short shrift in the capital budget that goes for public consultation starting today. This year, the city plans to spend $246.2-million on roads, bridges, sidewalks and bike lanes, of which 54 per cent (or $132.3-million) is for upkeep and only 11 per cent (or $26.9-million) for improved service.
Meanwhile, the current backlog for road repairs and related upkeep stands at $301-million, including $163-million for major and local roads and sidewalks, $49-million for bridge rehabilitation and $89-million for improvements to the western end of the Gardiner Expressway. City officials estimate the backlog will climb to $422-million in 2011.
Two years ago, city officials had pledged to wipe out the backlog in 10 years. Now the city would need to spend $197-million a year extra to eliminate it by 2016.
"By not placing money into this backlog, this council is putting the safety of City of Toronto residents at risk," says Canadian Automobile Association spokeswoman Faye Lyons, citing a recent incident when a concrete chunk fell off the Gardiner.
Over the next five years, the city expects to spend $1.8-billion for 234 new subway cars, 1,225 new accessible buses and 204 accessible streetcars, financed in part with federal and provincial government gas-tax money.
But these funds are neither permanent nor secure.
Joe Pennachetti, the city's chief financial officer, told the budget committee that the city does not have a signed agreement for $74-million in federal transit money due last year. But he is "hopeful" that another $150-million expected in 2007 and 2008 will eventually flow to the city.
*****
Budget rides the bus
Spending outlined in the proposed 2007 municipal capital budget is dominated by public transit.
TTC: 51% ($ 717.3million)
Roads, sidewalks, bike paths: 17% ($ 246.2million)
Other programs: 13% ($ 181.6million)
Parks, forestry, recreation: 4% ($ 60.5million)
Police: 4% ($ 50.8million)
Fleet services: 3% ($ 44.9million)
Waterfront: 3% ($ 44.3million)
Facilities and real estate: 2% ($ 33.5million)
Solid waste: 2% ($ 26.1million)
GO Transit: 1% ($ 20million)
SOURCE: CITY OF TORONTO
==============================================
No conspiracy here - but roads will crumble for the TTC's benefit
JOHN BARBER
My apologies, Al, for deriding your conspiracy theory that night on your porch following the delicious meal in your lovely Rosedale home. I was too dismissive when you told me that Tim told you that the Miller administration was deliberately letting local roads go to pot as a means of forcing disgruntled white folk like us to forsake our Volvos for public transit.
Sounds great, I said. But where's the proof? No mere mayor, I claimed, can abolish Toronto's debilitating two-season climate -- six months of road-heaving frost followed by six months of frenzied reconstruction. Nobody wants to make anything worse, but let's face it: This ain't California.
I apologize now because the proof has arrived in black and white, tabular form, down to the last incriminating nickel. The city's latest five-year capital plan, released yesterday, shows that the current administration is more than willing to cancel necessary roadwork to make extra room at the table for the voracious Toronto Transit Commission.
The telltale here is the notorious backlog of necessary repairs to deteriorated roads and bridges, which are estimated to cost $300-million.
At one point, the city adopted a spending plan designed to eliminate the backlog over 10 years. Unwilling or unable to find the money, however, it reverted to a boast that the backlog, although substantial, was at least not growing. Last year, the milleristas surrendered even that claim when they slashed the backlog budget, letting the outstanding amount grow by $50-million to its current level -- a taste of things to come.
Now they have arrived, in the form of more cuts to the backlog-reduction plan. Making the recommended cuts will have the effect of increasing the price of the required repairs to $422-million by 2011, according to the new capital plan. It will also extend the life of the resilient backlog another five years at least -- presuming no more cuts, which hardly seems realistic.
Realistically, the price of deferred road work does not increase at the simple arithmetical rate shown in the latest budget. Put off for three frost-heaving winters, a $50,000 resurfacing becomes a $150,000 reconstruction. In a city like Toronto, a growing backlog of road repairs is a time bomb. Misery will ensue.
Who's to blame? One potential culprit is deputy mayor Joe Pantalone, whose long-coveted project to fix the intersection of Dufferin and Queen Streets is eating a big chunk of the budget. Or Councillor Joe Mihevc and the St. Clair transitway. But such expenditures are minor compared to the billions demanded by the TTC. In a time of scarcity, transit rules.
Budget chief Shelley Carroll expressed pride yesterday in presenting a pro-transit capital budget. What she didn't point out was the sacrifice made to achieve it. But there it is, in black and white: a tested recipe for the accelerated deterioration of basic municipal infrastructure. Faced with steadily crumbling roads, motorists are more likely to buy SUVs than ride transit.
It's still not a conspiracy. The problem is that nobody in a position of power wants to implement the obvious solution: raising enough money to eliminate the backlog as quickly as possible. Considering how fast roads deteriorate when simple maintenance is deferred, the business case for increased investment is bombproof -- a matter of spending a few dollars today to avoid spending many more dollars tomorrow. But neither the city nor the province -- nor, most importantly, the disgruntled white folk -- want to do it.
In the budget, this blindness is expressed in terms of "debt targets." The city can go to ruin as long as its debt doesn't increase, according to prevailing wisdom. And don't even talk about raising taxes.
In the meantime, remember this: You get what you pay for.
My apologies once again.
And again: Councillor Michael Thompson, recently fingered as one of the front-row miscreants who disrupted council's class picture this week, was in fact not part of the protest. He offered to move to help the photographer.
jbarber@globeandmail.com
© Copyright 2007 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.
==============================================
2007 Capital Budget
There's an interesting list of new projects starting on page 27.