Road Ahead: Will York council hike taxes to fund transit, housing?

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 4, 2016
By Lisa Queen

Early last January, just a couple weeks after their inaugural meeting, York councillors agreed to a four-year budget plan setting out expected tax increases from 2015 to 2018.

It was the first time council had set out a budget plan spanning the term of council.

While there was nothing to stop them from making adjustments during annual budget deliberations, the plan projected a tax increase of 2.97 per cent in 2015, followed by a 2.85-per-cent increase in 2016, a 2.69-per-cent hike in 2017 and a 2.35-per-cent bump in 2018.

The 2015 increase is already a done deal.

On Dec. 17, council approved the anticipated 2.85-per-cent increase for the upcoming year. While there were budget presentations by senior staff and a few questions and comments by councillors, the 2016 budget sailed through with little fanfare.

But last month, chair Wayne Emmerson floated an idea that may add some fireworks to this year’s budget discussions.

Council may want to raise taxes beyond the projected increases to help fund public transit and social housing programs, he said.

The idea is similar to the “city building” tax proposed by Toronto Mayor John Tory.

The tax could raise as much as $70 million a year in Toronto if the city hiked taxes an additional 2.5 per cent over five years beginning in 2017, Tory said.

In its first year, the tax would add about $13 to the average tax bill in Toronto. That would climb to about $63 when it is fully implemented.

Since York councillors have identified transportation and affordable housing as the region’s top two pressing concerns this term, they may want to consider a similar tax here, Emmerson said.

“Mayor Tory has taken the lead on adding 2.5 per cent in 2017 for roads and housing and I think this council started off this term saying the two most important items that we are looking at (during this term of council) are roads and housing. So, I think it’s food for thought,” he said at a budget meeting in December.

“It’s something we may have to look at in the near future, but, at this point, this budget (for 2016) is struck at 2.85 per cent.”

While councillors have identified transportation and affordable housing as the region’s top priorities, many have also routinely expressed concerns about keeping a lid on taxes.

Don’t forget, 2018 is an election year.

Will councillors gamble that residents want money spent on better transit and social housing, two issues raised by many voters during the last municipal election campaign or will they go with the politically safer choice of keeping taxes to a minimum?