{"id":24295,"date":"2011-12-05T08:45:48","date_gmt":"2011-12-05T13:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/?p=24295"},"modified":"2011-12-04T23:49:59","modified_gmt":"2011-12-05T04:49:59","slug":"lorinc-the-spin-cycle-of-citys-budget-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2011\/12\/05\/lorinc-the-spin-cycle-of-citys-budget-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"LORINC: The spin cycle of City’s budget talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

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WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT:<\/strong> By the end of last Tuesday\u2019s news cycle, Mayor Rob Ford had steered his gravy choo-choo train to a politically intriguing destination: after the tumult of the summer core service review, Ford\u2019s subsequent threats about drastic tax increases, and the left\u2019s dire warnings about gutted municipal services, city manager Joe Pennachetti delivered a spending plan for 2012 that was hardly apocalyptic.<\/p>\n

Yes, there will be some service cuts, a few closures<\/a>, layoffs and a tax hike of 2.5% (which is actually a shade over the inflation rate<\/a> yet a whole lot less than what Hazel McCallion is poised to inflict on Mississaugans<\/a>). But the recommended budget is hardly a catastrophe. So Ford, with cover from Pennachetti, got to make good on his pledge to bend the curve of city spending, and do so on the first anniversary of taking office.<\/p>\n

By the end of Friday, however, the mayor\u2019s party had succeeded in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory\u2026again.<\/p>\n

We had budget chair Michael Del Grande\u2019s what-were-you-thinking<\/em> moment, with his revealing rumination about the possibility of banishing non-English language books from the city\u2019s library system. (Memo to Mike: Every other Torontonian is an immigrant. This isn\u2019t Gravenhurst, in case you hadn\u2019t noticed.) Paul Ainslie, one of Ford\u2019s generals, simply couldn\u2019t get himself up to the press gallery fast enough to denounce council\u2019s bean-counter-in-chief.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Then the Fords lost a pointless vote on environment days, revealing yet again that the mayor operates on a different political planet than most of his council colleagues \u2013 left and right \u2013 who understand the value of community schmoozing.<\/p>\n

Lastly, we watched the brother\u2019s self-immolating proxy battle<\/a> with the Toronto Star over those wayward press releases, a story as infectious as a three-year-old with a runny nose, but far more entertaining. (Memo to Doug: John Honderich sees himself as a progressive Hearst. Best not to fuck with that.)<\/p>\n

Bottom line: a year in, the Ford administration still needs adult supervision.<\/p>\n

WHAT WE DIDN’T TALK ABOUT:<\/strong> Did you know that the city has quietly decided that the TTC is no longer going to bother with expanding Toronto\u2019s transit infrastructure?<\/p>\n

Neither the Commission nor city council have said so explicitly, but the TTC\u2019s 2012-2021 capital budget offers all sorts of clues to suggest that there\u2019s now an unspoken understanding that financial responsibility for growing the network rests squarely with Metrolinx.<\/p>\n

The recommended capital budget [PDF]<\/a> defers new subway and LRV purchases \u2014 a move made possible by the reduction in service levels \u2014 and punts way down the field a number of capital projects, such as a new subway maintenance facility and the installation of new automated signaling technology on the Bloor-Danforth line that will increase capacity by reducing head times.<\/p>\n

But according to the charts on pages 4 and 5 of the document, capital expenditures relating to service improvements and growth will slow to a bare trickle over the next decade, accounting for just 3% of total investment. Indeed, the growth-related outlay recedes to zero in 2019, after the completion of the Spadina subway extension and the implementation of the new Presto fare system.<\/p>\n

Even more telling is the graph on page 14, which shows the funding sources for the 2012-2021 capital plan. With the passage of time, the city\u2019s contribution \u2014 in the form of debentures, reserve draws and development charges \u2014 all but vanishes as part of the Ford administration\u2019s obsessive drive to reduce debt costs on the operating budget. Never mind that ridership breaks new records each year and the city\u2019s population grows steadily thanks to denser development and immigration.<\/p>\n

Despite some general discussion from city officials last week about applying future surpluses and the proceeds of asset sales to the capital budget, I fearlessly predict that a Ford-run council will never agree to allocate funds to any major new transit expansion project, such as the downtown relief line or even bus rapid transit (BRT) for Finch.<\/p>\n

Ford, after all, is far more interested in showing voters that he\u2019s slashed borrowing costs than in growing the TTC, so he\u2019s happy to delegate that task to Metrolinx, with its leisurely timelines and provincial spending constraints.<\/p>\n

Perhaps, when Gordon Chong tables his long-awaited proposal for the Sheppard subway later this month, it will recommend a cost-sharing deal involving the TTC, the province, the feds and private investors. But I\u2019m guessing the city won\u2019t be part of the formula. Transit, after all, is merely a nice-to-have in Rob Ford’s city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT: By the end of last Tuesday\u2019s news cycle, Mayor Rob Ford had steered his gravy choo-choo train to a politically intriguing destination: after the tumult of the summer core service review, Ford\u2019s subsequent threats about drastic tax increases, and the left\u2019s dire warnings about gutted municipal services, city manager Joe PennachettiContinue reading “LORINC: The spin cycle of City’s budget talks”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4051,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[19002,4064,6435,1174,16543,16711,19001,717,5765,19000,426,18999,5327,416,227,1631,339,19,341,22090,4447],"class_list":["post-24295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-automated-signaling-technology","tag-budget-chair","tag-city-manager","tag-ford","tag-ford-administration","tag-gordon-chong","tag-gutted-municipal-services","tag-hazel-mccallion","tag-joe-pennachetti","tag-john-honderich","tag-mayor","tag-michael-del-grande","tag-paul-ainslie","tag-pdf","tag-rob-ford","tag-sheppard-subway","tag-the-toronto-star","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-star","tag-transit","tag-transit-infrastructure"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLORINC: The spin cycle of City's budget talks - 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