Youth Speak up 2018 Municipal Governance Kandeel Imran and Bonnie Li

Youth Speak Up 2018 Municipal Governance Kandeel Imran and Bonnie Li

Revenue Tools

From expanding transit lines to repairing roads, the City of Toronto has a long list of projects on its plate. The question is how do they pay for it? Studies have shown that municipalities now own the majority of Canada’s infrastructure, yet they lack sufficient tools to finance their maintenance. Presently, Ontario's municipalities fund their expenditures via a combination of property tax revenues, federal and provincial transfers, and user fees. Recommendations have been made to tax private short-term accommodation rentals. About 42 percent of Ontario municipal revenue comes from property taxation with federal and provincial government transfers accounting for another 21 percent and the remainder coming from an assortment of user fees, fines, and licenses and permits.

Ontario municipal revenues have been growing at a 5.1% annual rate, while the population has been growing at 1.1% and the GDP growing at 3-4% on average. In short, municipal revenue has been growing at a faster rate than the GDP and population combined. Yet the municipal debt is still growing. Suggestions have been made to beware of Ontario municipalities asking for more revenue.

Property Taxes

Property tax is the tax on the value of a property, usually levied on real estate. For 2017, the total tax rate for residential property is 0.66%, with a city tax rate of 0.48%, education tax rate of 0.18 %, and city building fund of 0.002%. Recently, following outcries from shop owners on Yonge Street and other places that were slapped with skyrocketing tax hikes based on soaring assessment values, the City of Toronto has approved a 10% cap on property tax increases for businesses. For a long time, many have suggested that Toronto should look more into new revenue tools, not property taxes. Scholars assert that “other cities around the world use a wider range of tax sources, including income, sales, fuel, and other vehicle taxes. It is time for Canadian cities to have access to some of those choices as well.”

Youth Speak Up 2018 Municipal Governance Kandeel Imran and Bonnie Li

Smart Track

SmartTrack is a proposed Regional Express Rail surface route in Toronto.

The SmartTrack line as proposed would be 53 km long and run along Eglinton Avenue from Matheson/Airport Corporate Centre in Mississauga to Mount Dennis before turning downtown to Union Station. It would then run northeast through Scarborough to Unionville. 22 stations were proposed on the line that interchanges with the Union Pearson Express, Line 1 Yonge–University, Line 2 Bloor–Danforth, Line 5 Eglinton, and GO Transit. Tory estimated ridership would be 200,000 passengers a day and that the line would cost $8 billion and be in service by 2022.

Studies approximate that SmartTrack's route would average 12 hectares per kilometre available for redevelopment. This was slightly more than the 11.1 hectares per kilometre available if the TTC's heavy rail system were extended from Kennedy station to Sheppard. Critics called the plan a “pie in the sky”, asserting that the city doesn’t have money for it, “especially when it's already trying to figure out how to pay for a number of pricey transit expansions.”

Youth Speak Up 2018 Municipal Governance Kandeel Imran and Bonnie Li