Local reps split over city tax proposals

Two local councillors have taken opposite positions in the city’s deferral of two controversial tax proposals.

At this month’s city council meeting, Eglinton-Lawrence councillor Howard Moscoe (Ward 15) voted against deferring a decision on the taxes until October, while the other Eglinton-Lawrence councillor, Karen Stintz (Ward 16), supported it.

The plan to introduce a land transfer tax and a vehicle-registration fee left city council members almost evenly divided, with the final vote 23-22 in favour of deferral.

"We’ve explored the full gamut of taxes and these were the least painful and the easiest to collect," Moscoe said. "The land transfer tax is the least painful of the choices."

The proposed tax would add about $4,000 on the purchase of an average-price Toronto home of about $380,000. It’s supposed to bring in $300 million for the city, while the vehicle registration tax would bring in $56 million.

The combined revenue from the two taxes would go towards paying off the city’s $575 million deficit from this year’s budget.

"The truth is, it wouldn’t affect too many people," Moscoe said of the land transfer charge. "They do have substantial profits (on the selling of their home) in most cases.

"Toronto already has an overheated real estate market, and this wouldn’t put a damper on that at all."

But Stintz says introducing new levies to taxpayers is not the way to fix the funding problems.

"There is fundamentally a structural problem with the budget, and we need to deal with that," she said. "We need a clear plan on how to move forward.

"We need to be working with the public, internally (with the city) and with the province."

Stintz said she decided to vote in favour of a deferral because she wanted "to give all (provincial) parties the opportunity to say how they are going to help with uploading."

According to Stintz, the Oct. 10 provincial election would give candidates the opportunity to say how they would help dig the city out of its budget hole. She says it is part of the provincial government’s responsibility.

"All parties have said that the property tax cannot bear these costs," she said. "It also gives the city the opportunity to look internally at how we can tighten our own belts."

But Moscoe said even if the city does make internal budget cuts, the savings would be minimal.

"Those cuts would save about 3-1/2 cents per year per family," he said. "The truth of the matter is, we’ve been managing as tightly as we can for a number of years, and (those cuts) wonÕt make a dent in our financial problem."

He says council’s decision to defer the tax was a mistake.

"I think the people who rallied against it really shot themselves in the foot," he said.

The $350 million that would come from the proposed taxes is equivalent to an 18 percent increase in property tax, something Moscoe said would be far worse than implementing the two fees.

"The majority of residences don’t want either of those things – higher taxes or service cuts," he said.

But service cuts are already underway since the deferral decision.

The city has mentioned a possibility of shutting down the Sheppard subway line, and announced a list of 16 libraries throughout Toronto – including the Northern District library – that will cancel Sunday service. It has also asked the police to trim its budget, though that is something chief Bill Blair vows will not happen.

Stintz said she expects council will be in a better position come October to offer some funding solutions.

"The province will have a new government, we will have our own budget review and we can come back to the public in a much better position to explain our situation," she said.