Wednesday’s headlines

7 comments

1. Moscoe epitomizes what is wrong with Toronto. He is quoted by Insidetoronto…

   “I can’t face my taxpayers and say you’re paying a four per cent tax increase because the business community’s only paying 1.3 per cent,” he said. “By taxing everybody across the board two and a half per cent, we’re raising the same amount of money. Why should the business community be coming here and getting a break when times are tough? My homeowners are hurting.”

   He seems to have had no problem facing his taxpayers when business taxes were raised from being at near par to residential taxes to 4 times the amount.

   If he and others want to come across as champions of the poor Toronto residential taxpayer, who pays on average the least in the province, then they must except the cost and take credit for the cost of that. Namely that Toronto has stagnated for a generation, and save for Windsor, has been the provincial leader in loosing jobs.

   The fact that the Mayor and the rest of the Executive committee support reviewing the programs in place to lower the burden on business (and renters BTW), shows that they are nothing more than opportunist. No better than the greedy Bank and Insurance executives.

2. I pay taxes in Toronto proper, and I’m totally OK with how much I pay. It’s unfortunate that taxes were frozen 2004-07 (booming years for the City) only to be raised during a recession, but seriously property tax in Toronto is rather benign when compared to the services we get.

3. The operating budget is 8.7 billion
   Of that 1 billion is spent fully on residents (Citizen Centered ‘A’). Of the balance of 7.7 billion, 80% of that is spent on residents.

   That means that the city spends over $7,000 per household (~1 million in TO)to provide residents (not businesses) services. At the same time it collects an average of $2,335 in tax per household. .

   Calling a reduction to the high business taxes a subsidy is dumbfounding. Asking the BoT to thank the city for what it has done for business is insulting. Moscoe and the rest of the executive committee that supported his motion should stop hiding the true cost of running Toronto from voters. If they share taxpayer concerns about high taxes they should control spending.

   The longer you give something for nothing the sooner you have to give nothing for something.

4. What’s that expression? “Get a blog” is it? Oh, too late.

   Don’t businesses make use of the same roads, sewers, garbage removal and so on as residents (maybe moreso)? Talk about creative accounting.

5. Cute comment Boris. Check again, in my post I accounted for the 20% of the assessment base that is non residential and removed the portion of those expenses. With the exception of of those listed under Citizen Centered ‘A’.

   Do you have anything constructive to offer?

6. All I know is you’re always on here banging the same tired, old “business good, taxes bad, Toronto bad” drum with ridiculously contorted and selective methodology. On a recent thread you went around and about trying to make the case that Toronto’s taxes were so much higher than Mississauga’s but (to your credit) you eventually admitted that, according to your own numbers, they are effectively only 2% higher.

   I totally support your freedom of expression but there is an term for people who perpetually use boards like this one to grind their axes.

7. Boris,

   Yes, while they can be “effectively only 2% higher” it comes at the expense of reduce the capital value (assessment) of the properties.

   The reason I bring this issue up is that it is related to jobs. IMO the single most important issue in the city. Recall that it took over half a generation before the city decided to do anything. And when they did, they did it by an amount half of what the public suggested and over a twenty year period.

   I look forward to your lament towards those Spacing readers who have a singular focus on transit or cycling.