Just two weeks after Mayor Rob Ford promised not to raise property taxes any further, he says a hike is needed to fund the $2.3-billion subway extension he?s touting for Scarborough.
He says the ?minimal? increase would equal 0.25 per cent a year over four years starting in 2015 ? on the low end of the amount recommended in a city report released Friday.? Ford calculates the hike will cost about $5 a household per year.
City manager Joe Pennachetti?s report suggests a property tax hike of between 1.1 per cent and 2.4 per cent over three years starting with 0.5 per cent in 2014.
Council will decide on Tuesday whether to endorse the subway or stick with light rail.
?We all know new subways come with a price,? Ford said at a news conference in Etobicoke.
?I support a minimum, minimum, minimum tax increase of one-quarter of one per cent ? starting in 2015 to build these subways.
?Folks, as you know I?m the last, last person to ever push for any tax increase, but I call this an investment.?
Ford said the subway would also need the $1.8 billion the province earmarked for the light-rail transit plan it would replace, as well as federal funding.
He meets with federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on Saturday and Ontario Transportation Minister Glen Murray on Monday.
On Thursday, Murray said Queen?s Park might support a subway extension in Scarborough, but in a statement released Friday, he stressed that the province has ?a signed agreement with Toronto to build an LRT to Scarborough,? and said there is currently no plan ?to allocate funds to a subway project.?
Murray said that if Toronto council votes in favour of a building a subway instead of an LRT, he wants to see a ?viable? business plan that:
- Creates jobs and improves economic development in Scarborough
- Ensures the land along the subway line is properly zoned for employment and density
- Aligns transit with TTC priorities; develops routes that build ridership, create jobs and get people from their homes to their destinations
- Brings the Federal Government to the table as a partner on 416 rapid transit projects
- Builds the subway under IO management to ensure project scheduling and meet firm deadlines
Metrolinx says the costs of switching to a subway would swell beyond what the city manager and Mayor Ford project, and urged city officials to back the original plan for an LRT.? Here?s a letter from Metrolinx, responding to the city manager?s report.
Metrolinx responds to Toronto City Manager report on Scarborough RT
Source: http://www.citynews.ca/2013/07/12/tax-hike-needed-to-fund-possible-2-3b-scarborough-subway-ford/
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