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Friday’s headlines

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CITY HALL
• Property tax cuts ‘right thing to do’ [ National Post ]
• Tax incentives proposed [ Toronto Sun ]
• Councillor claims Facebook identity theft [ National Post ]

TRANSIT
• Arrests in Spadina shooting [ National Post ]
• Hunt in subway gunplay [ Toronto Sun ]
• Arrest made, 2 sought, in Spadina subway shooting [ CBC.ca ]

TOURISM
• City losing ground as ‘must-see’ locale [ Toronto Star ]
• Toronto lacking ‘wow factor’ [ Toronto Sun ]

MISCELLANEOUS
• Those trying to scratch out a living as graffiti artists have new hope thanks to classes funded by taxpayer dollars [ Toronto Sun ]
• Billboard companies challenge sign bylaws [ Globe and Mail ]
• Both Maple Leafs and city always win for losing [ Toronto Star ]

8 comments

  1. I attended the Planning committee meeting. It must be said, I don’t think that there is another councillor in the city who works as hard as Adam Vaughn. While I may not agree with some of his points (below), he does work very hard. He asks more questions than most, if not all others. Similar sentiments for Kyle Rae and Peter Milczyn. Both very involved. councillor Rae was priceless in prodding the Finance Dep. to get in the game.

    Despite the above comments about councillor Vaughn, there was one, for me, troubling aspect regarding his concerns. As quoted in the Post article; “We don’t want a chicken-egg situation, where you end up undermining the social structures that create investment by offering tax incentives to attract investment,” he said.”. Such comments perpetuate the notion that the non residential class is getting a free ride. Even with the incentives, as planned, in full effect, the non residential class will pay for far more(>4x) than they consume of city services. Contrast that to the residential class which is paying only a fraction of the cost and it is clear which class has a tax climate which threatens undermining social structures.

  2. I suppose now that the only “wow” thing there was about Toronto, its huge and world-class nightlife, is under attack, there isn’t really much reason to visit, after all.

    Seriously, some cities are judged entirely by their nightlife, or if they do not have a great one, aren’t worth visiting.

    Toronto is becoming like that as it steps up enforcement of its puritanical laws.

  4. Is it just me or has “Science Rendez Vous”, http://www.sciencerendezvous.ca/ taking place tomorrow, been woefully underpublicized? Other than this “article” in the Toronto Star yesterday:

    http://www.thestar.com/article/422903

    I knew nothing about it. Had I known, I would have planned to attend some of the events, but now I’ve got other plans that I can’t change.

    I hope the attendance is good despite the poor publicity and that this becomes a yearly event – it’s a fantastic idea. I hope someone from Spacing will be attending and can blog about it.

  5. I agree that the property tax rebate for desirable industries is a very good idea and long overdue. Perhaps even a bigger rebate would be a good idea. It is essential that Toronto takes steps to both conserve and attract additional employment to the City.

    But the comparisons by spokespeople between the extent of incentives granted by New York and Toronto sadly miss one important point–NYC and Toronto have very different revenue sources. NYC may invest $1 in attracting business for every $0.15 that Toronto does, but NYC also reaps additional benefits from every new job in the form of municipal income and sales taxes.

    Attracting $904 million in investment and 11,000 jobs to Toronto is wonderful and absolutely necessary, but most of the financial benefit from increased prosperity will go to the federal and provincial governments in the form of income & sales taxes instead of to the City.
    Waiving property taxes entirely, while an effective means of attracting investment (which will hopefully stay), would result in the City subsidizing the higher levels of government while beggaring itself.

    I’m not saying that Toronto shouldn’t make greater moves, just that it shouldn’t do so until it has access to a more diverse revenue stream.

    Adam Vaughan is bang-on about taking care not to undermine the City’s financial footing and thus the social structures that make it attractive to eager people, employees and businesses.

  6. I’m with Kevin. Fewer puritans, more partiers. 4am last call, stat!

  7. What is a bigger threat to Toronto’s social infrastructure? Adding new residents, where each household consumes an average of $6,500 in municipal spending while paying $2,200, plus user fees? Or adding new ICI developments that even with a tax rebates, will still provide the city with much more (>2x) revenue than it cost the city to support it?

    It is a simple strategy, when no one is buying, lower your prices. In this case Toronto will still profit handsomely.

  8. This property tax break proposal is just another thing foolish idea that has snuck up on residents. Does this mean that residents are being asked to once more subsidize the corporate class.

    Unbelievable!

    Is it possible that a large downtown firm could empty out, seeks an incentive to relocate to the ‘burbs, leaving the City short of taxes on two sites – an empty downtown building and a tax free site in the burbs!

    Just where are we headed – closer to bankruptcy.