Toronto council urged to reinstate vehicle registration tax

Social justice organizations and think tank calling on council to reinstate vehicle registration tax to help end poverty

Thestar.com
Jan. 6, 2016
By Betsy Powell

Mayor John Tory and council can start delivering on a 20-year plan to reduce poverty in Toronto by reinstating the vehicle registration tax, says a coalition of social justice organizations and a research institute.

“Just as it was eliminated it could be reintroduced, and it could be easily reintroduced in this budget, said Sheila Block, a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

By reviving the $60-per-car charge, councillors can “be true to their word” while “improving the lives of low income people in this city and really improve all of our lives by reducing inequality.”

The tax - which council killed in 2011 under the Ford administration - could raise $66 million this year and be implemented relatively quickly, she told a news conference at city hall where councillors were discussing the proposed 2016 budget.

Council makes final decisions next month.

Representatives of Social Planning Toronto, Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke and Voices from the Street joined Block to call on the city to revisit previously studied revenue generating tools.

Updating previous calculations, they include taxes on entertainment (which could raise $18 million, according to Block), tobacco ($30 million), alcohol ($77 million) road tolls ($78 million) and a tax on private, non-residential parking spots ($174 million.)

Block said she senses a mood shift at city hall, pointing to city manager Peter Wallace’s declaration that revenue tools are “not a dirty word” and the fact Tory has already proposed a property tax increase, starting in 2017, dedicated to building transit, housing and infrastructure.

Councillor Norm Kelly, on council when it passed the vehicle registration tax, remembers the “firestorm” candidates encountered along the election campaign trail.

“I would not want to revisit the vehicle registration tax. People have pronounced themselves on that very vigorously,” he said Wednesday after attending the news conference.

However, Kelly said Toronto does need more autonomy to levy new taxes, including a sales or income tax. Residents might be willing to accept new city-imposed taxes if they lead to lower property tax bills, “while broadening the tax base to capture more people to make it a fairer tax system.”

In the meantime, he is open to exploring road tolls on the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway.

“Torontonians in general rail against 905ers using the DVP and the Gardiner without having to pay for it. These are very expensive roads to maintain.”