The end of austerity? Torontonians get say on city budget

Public deputations Monday to Wednesday, across the city, are the public's chance to sound off on city spending.

Thestar.com
Jan. 7, 2018
By David Rider

It's not everyone's idea of a good time, but Sarah Climenhaga is eager to give Toronto councillors an earful about the 2018 budget.

The community activist, who plans to run against Mayor John Tory next October, can't wait to tell budget committee members she is fed up with austerity budgets during public "deputations" starting Monday.

"I'm frustrated by the lack of funding for city-approved policies and strategies, and I'm upset that the needs of the people of Toronto are not in this budget," said Climenhaga, who plans to make her pitch Wednesday with input, on video, from like-minded Torontonians.

"I'm going to tell the budget committee that they must fund all the policies and strategies that council has already approved. Torontonians should not have to fight over whether to fund poverty reduction, climate change, student nutrition or anti-black racism. This budget does not meet the needs of our city."

Others will express different opinions on the proposed almost $11-billion operating budget, a staff-prepared spending blueprint that would hike property taxes by 2.1 per cent but fail to fund almost $41.2 million in city council-approved programs and services.

Council's budget chief Councillor Gary Crawford said he and Tory will support getting some - but not all - of those left-outs back into the budget.

Expenses they support include: time-based TTC transfers for Presto users ($11.1 million); poverty reduction initiatives ($10.9 million); congestion-fighting measures including traffic wardens (at least $2 million); TransformTO climate-change initiatives for 2018 ($2 million); the anti-black racism action plan ($995,400); and the new Indigenous office ($519,700).

Crawford would not identify a particular staff-proposed expense he will reject.

"Forty-one million dollars, it's a lot of money, that's almost a 2-per-cent property tax increase on its own," he said. "We need to either increase our revenue or opportunities to bring down expenditures ... There are lot of items on there that are 'nice to haves' and if we had all the money in the world, absolutely we could support them, but we need to look at what the real priorities of the city are and try to support those important priorities."