Toronto’s city council budget talks went to recess three times Wednesday morning because members of the public were shouting.
A woman shouted against funding for police. Multiple voices were later heard chanting “House the homeless, feed the poor, kick John Tory out the door.”
When the city council meeting commenced after hours of delay, Mayor John Tory spoke, but only to say farewell and express appreciation for retiring chief engineer Michael D'Andrea. His comments were punctuated by yells of “let me in” from the same woman who was earlier shut out.
Tory announced his resignation as mayor on Friday after admitting to an affair with a staff member, though he has not yet officially submitted a resignation letter. He is still acting mayor as the budget is voted upon and could use his new “strong mayor” veto powers.
His office said in a statement that he would be attending the budget meeting “to ensure the 2023 City of Toronto operating and capital budgets are finalized.”
Under recent provincial “strong mayors” legislation, Toronto and Ottawa mayors can act without majority support in some regards.
Tax Increases, Missing Federal Funds
The meeting started with a look at property tax increases. The $16 billion operating budget is partly funded by a 5.5 percent increase to residential property taxes. It also includes a separate 1.5 percent City Building Fund levy.Chief Financial Officer Heather Taylor said for every percentage point in increase, the city brings in $39 million in funding for the year. To put that in perspective, Councillor Dianne Saxe said, it would take more than a percentage point to bring in the additional investment of $40 million to $48 million needed to keep transit service at the same level as last year.
Councillors questioned Taylor on gaps in the budget. Councillor Lily Cheng asked about the approximately $1.3 billion in pandemic-related shortfalls that the city has been asking the province and federal government to cover (that’s about $400 million for 2022 and $900 million for 2023).
Taylor said the province has committed to covering its share for 2022, but the rest is still being negotiated.
Cheng asked, “Would it be safe to say that there is a huge gap that we’re still living with?”
Taylor replied, “There is a gap, for sure. But please note also that we have made a provision this year. We do have funds that we'd prefer not to use. The fact is for 2023, we actually do have a balanced budget and we do have a provision in the event that the other orders of government don’t provide funding.”
She later said, “In 2024, we won’t have a reserve to fall back on in the absence of other orders of government funding.”
Taylor said the federal government has also not come through with funding for refugees, which is under its jurisdiction. Councillor Mike Colle questioned Taylor about the refugee funding.
“We are still waiting for confirmation for 2022 refugee funding as well as 2023,” Taylor said. The total amount, she said, is $170 million.
Councillor Michael Thompson asked about money spent on the influx of refugees and asylum seekers being given bus passes to arrive in Toronto.
Taylor said the increased demand on various city services—which is not directly related to refugees and thus not under federal jurisdiction—has been factored into the city budget.
