Here at Toronto City Council for the budget meeting!
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"Is it too high? Is it too low? Make up your minds!" Fletcher criticizes her colleagues' "hysteria" over a "Goldilocks budget".
It's Cllr Bravo's turn to speak. "I thought Fletcher was the last speaker," says someone. "Crisanti after that," says Nunziata. "Vince! Vince!" heckles Burnside plaintively. Cllr Crisanti makes a 🤌 motion at him.
"Cllr Fletcher motivated me to say what I'm going to say," says Cllr Crisanti. Fletcherrrr!!! He is like, TECHNICALLY, we're not voting on the budget, just on certain amendments (true).
To clarify for anyone new to this, Council's conservatives are all in favour of keeping residential property tax increases as low as possible and would normally approve of a mere 2.2%. However, they object to this budget because 1) they want to finance that by cutting services, not by dipping into reserves; and 2) they see it as a naked campaign ploy.
Nunziata: "Cllr Colle, you would like to get up and..." (everyone groans) "…declare a conflict [of interest]." (everyone sighs)
Voting. I realize this sounds quite intemperate but this has been a peeve of mine for as long as I've been following City Council. They do the item pages in MS Word, I believe, so we're not gonna get like semantic markup, but it does have outline functionality that should allow for it
Holyday's TTC motions failed. So did Pasternak's motion to delay the shelter. Perruzza accidentally votes against Bradford's Main Square motion and they have to re-open the vote so it can pass unanimously.
(See results on the item page.)
Oh shit I forgot about the other budget item (where they actually set the rates). As is tradition, it is considered after the main budget item, even though now it makes no difference.
You'll notice the table of property tax rates is mind-meltingly confusing. As ever, see David Hains's perennially useful explainer on how property taxes work in Toronto.
Holyday has questions about the changes to Toronto Parking Authority financing. (There are interesting changes afoot that I have not looked into myself.)
Cllr Fletcher going into deep history (1998) about money set aside for the Main Square development, the old Neighbourhood Services Committee, etc. "Did the new City spend four million dollars in vain?" I begrudgingly admit I am mildly interested.
As expected, Cllr Carroll has a motion to increase the tax break for small businesses and balance it out with hiking rates for the rest of the commercial property tax subclass. She also has another motion which I don't think does very much
"We have not plundered, we have not raided," Cllr Carroll says in defence of the budget.
Cllr Myers has a motion regarding how the TTC and the City interact, accountability- and funding-wise, instead of the City just "cutting the TTC a check": "considering mechanisms to formalize agreements between both entities on key performance indicators, verification/auditing, service levels, safety and customer experience."
@nev from an IT standpoint, formalizing your KPIs and SLAs is a Good Thing. Once you've agreed on where the number should be, you can prove whether or not things are being done.
@WanderingBeekeeper While I agree in principle, I also object to IT people trying to extend their knowledge to the rest of society
@nev Fair, there's been a lot of toxicity carried that way. In my defense, the concept comes from hardware engineering, and was adopted by IT. The Japanese rail system would perhaps be a better reference for the concept. Their implementing the point-and-call process has created a safety record that is the envy of other nations.
@WanderingBeekeeper yes, that is fair, I think we could all learn things from Japanese transit
Cllr Morley has a motion for Toronto Shelter & Support Services to work with the drop-in sector to "review core wage principles, adequate resourcing and overall stabilization of the sector", noting that drop-in staff have to "wear many hats".
Another part of her motion is looking into "enhanced" snow clearing for seniors and people with disabilities, an issue which came to the fore during the recent snow Event. She says Brampton and Pickering have such programs.
WINDROW CLEARING RETURNS!!!!! (The enhanced service of clearing the snowbanks left in people's driveways by snow plows has been a perennial budget football over the years.)
Cllr Pasternak has a raft of various uncontroversial-looking/ineffectual motions, such as Council telling "the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Canada that it vigorously opposes and takes serious objection to his announced a $10 million reduction in Housing Accelerator Fund funding for the City of Toronto."
Cllr Burnside has a motion to raise TTC fares by $0.10. He says it's unfair to ask Toronto's wealthiest property owners to pay more, but not TTC riders. stares into the camera
Note that increasing barriers to using the TTC risks the feared TTC Ridership Death Spiral, where lower ridership leads to worse services leading to lower ridership, etc., etc., hence why your typical transit wonks oppose cutting struggling public transit.
Myers is like, are you aware this is a terrible fucking idea. Burnside is like, "I was advised by folks at the TTC—"
"Which folks? Name names."
"Is this an inquisition?"
Myers (paraphrase): No, I just want to know.
"Uh…I don't know their names."
"It's amazing. You're a former TTC chair. Just amazing." Cllr Myers is extremely amused.
Bradford has a motion to increase the small business tax break from 15% to 25%, instead of 20% as in the Mayor's budget.
Fletcher, who can really nurse a grudge, points out that Bradford didn't move it before Chow was mayor. The old "this u?"
OHHHHHHHHH Cllr Bravo has a motion similar to Myers' re: the TTC budget, but about the police (and the services transferred from police to the City proper).
- City Council request the Toronto Police Service Board, in consultation with the General Manager, Transportation Services, the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, and the Executive Director, Social Development, to provide, as part of its annual budget submission, starting with the 2027 budget, an accounting of budget impacts, including efficiencies and cost savings, from the following areas:
a. the approximately 40,000 crisis calls responded to by the Toronto Community Crisis Service since launching in 2022, which contributed to a 4.5 per cent decrease in overall mental health-related 911 calls;
b. the transfer to the City of the crossing guard program through Transportation Services;
c. the transfer of noise enforcement to Municipal Licensing and Standards; and
d. increased traffic control done by the City through the traffic agents program.
I was checking my phone while Cllr Perruzza introduced his latest motion because I didn't want to look at it or read it because I knew it was going to be his usual bullshit, and it is: "City Council request the Government of Ontario to allow the City of Toronto to keep 100 percent of the property taxes collected within the City of Toronto."
C'mon Nonno let's get you to bed
Holyday has the Annual Motion to Restore Mechanical Leaf Collection In Etobicoke, as is tradition. (Like windrow clearing, a frequent subject of last-minute budget horse-trading that was cut in recent years.) I am actually laughing out loud.
If I were a councillor, I would bring up the ecological cost of leaf disposal and ask why Cllr Holyday hates pollinators, detritivores, fireflies, etc., and move for a ban on mechanical leaf collection, and that is why I am not a councillor
Cllr Crisanti has a motion asking the TTC to look into "free to $1 for Wheel-Trans customers aged 65 and over during off-peak hours (10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) on weekdays and all day on weekends".
Cllr Myers says Wheel-Trans actually costs $50 a trip, and suggests instead making fares free/discounted for "conditional passengers", people who could use Wheel-Trans but are using the regular TTC instead. Crisanti says they could look at both scenarios.
OK, speakers over, voting time i guess
Votes! (Once again, here: https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2026.CC38.1)
(Note, when there is a lone "no" it's Holyday)
- Bradford's motion on increasing the small business tax break to 25% fails 5-20. "Perruzza!" Colle cries in disappointment (he voted for it).
- Carroll's motion increasing it to 20% carries 23-2.
- The other parts of her motion pass by a show of hands.
- Matlow's motion asking for a share of the HST carries 24-1.
- Morley's motion (drop-in sector, snow clearing for seniors & disabled people) carries 24-1.
- Morley's Amsterdam Bridge motion carries with a show of hands.
- Pasternak's motions re: a Major Gifts office; the Downsview Community Centre; New Deal 2.0 MoA agreeement all carry with show of hands.
- Pasternak's motion that the City of Toronto be very stern about loss of federal housing funds carries 22-3. (Matlow and Saxe against, which is interesting.)
- Kandavel's motion on Bluffer's Park carries with a show of hands.
- Burnside's motion on the Aga Khan Park carries with a show of hands.
- Bravo's motion on more transparent police (& associated divisions) budget reporting carries 23-2.
- Perruzza's annual property tax motion carries 22-3, Bravo and Malik against.
- Holyday's annual mechanical leaf collection motion fails 9-16. "Hey, that's one more than last year!" Holyday announces. "Keep trying," says Nunziata.
- Fletcher's Applegrove Community Centre motion passes with a show of hands.
- Myers's motion on more transparent TTC budget reporting carries unanimously.
- Burnside's motion for a $0.10 fare hike fails 3-20. "If you listened more and talked less, you'd know where I'm coming from," he calls in response to Perruzza's heckling. "Sick burn!" says Carroll.
- Crisanti's motion on free/discounted fares for senior Wheel-Trans users carries 19-5. Carroll, Matlow, Saxe (and Burnside and Holyday) against, likely for various reasons.
Now voting on the item as amended (still https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2026.CC38.1). Councillors want various items to be separated out. I am starting to feel overheated and woozy and am decidedly under-hydrated.
- Parts 1-4 (the main rates) carry 21-4.
- PROCEDURAL CONFUSION as they are unclear what they are voting on now
If this goes over time I am going to have to tap out, I wish we could drink water in here
- Anyway, parts 1-4 as amended carry 19-5 (Bradford, Crisanti, Holyday, Perruzza, Pasternak against).
- Part 15, re: Parking Authority funding. "What's in that?" asks Cllr Colle distractedly. "Just read it," someone heckles. Carroll: "First rule of improv, just say yes!" It carries 20-4.
- Part 16, re: "considering" raising parking rates, carries 20-4.
- Part 24, on expanding the air conditioner pilot program, carries 23-1. "I feel like I'm getting older just sitting here," says Nunziata, whose birthday is in 2 days.
- Parts 26-30, re: FIFA, carry 22-2, with Nunziata & Bradford against. "If you vote for this you get the FIFA Peace Prize," jokes Colle.
- The rest of the item as pertaining to the TTC (so Cllr Colle, who has a conflict as his son [former councillor Josh Colle] now works for the TTC, can vote on the rest) carries unanimously, 23-0.
- The rest of the rest of the item carries unanimously, 24-0.
Okay now it's over, I feel like I am dying and need to leave, thanks to anyone who is reading this
Update: home, alive, in comfy pants and with peppermint tea.
I did not escape unscathed though.
I got another Muji fountain pen.
@nev Thank you for doing the work. ❤️
@mayintoronto hey, it's only work if you get paid!!! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
@nev Fucking ghouls. It takes forever to get accepted into Wheel-Trans, and it's such an awful service experience.
@mayintoronto yeah, they've been trying to pare it down for years. The ultimate goal is to improve TTC accessibility to the point where Wheel-Trans isn't needed, which is obviously a pipe dream
@nev My friends with disabilities use Wheel-Trans for some agoraphobia. But also if you use a wheelchair on the subway, people have tried to sit on them multiple times because they don't bother looking down. All of my wheelchair user friends have experienced this.
Jeez.
Make all transit free and eliminate free parking for cars.
@chu @mayintoronto if you can figure out a way to swing it financially, sure
Someone with better access to numbers than we do can probably tell us how much city and street parking needs to go up to break even on this.
Whatever that number is is what parking should cost period
@mayintoronto @chu Here's some numbers: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2026/bu/bgrd/backgroundfile-261375.pdf
The TPA's revenue is about $180 million (a few thousand of that goes to subsidizing Bike Share).
Average transaction value per trip is about $9 for parking lots with 9.4 million trips/year, and about $4 for curbside parking with 15 million trips per year. Not sure about EV charging or Bike Share, which would both have to be counted differently anyway, I think.
(Keep in mind that the TPA also has its own operating budget, capital costs, and state of good repair backlog.)
Presumably massively hiking municipal parking rates would mean privately owned commercial parking could undercut the City severely, so ideally you'd implement a very high commercial parking levy at the same time.
One possible problem with this, on a conceptual level, is that you're also trying to incentivize people to take transit instead of driving, right? So if that is successful, your transit costs will be rising and your parking revenue will be shrinking, and you might get a Parking Death Spiral where fewer people park because it costs so much, so you have to raise parking rates even more (not only to keep revenue the same—but if people are taking transit instead, you have to raise even more revenue), so even fewer people park, etc. This is just speculation on my part, if this were for real this is where I'd ask for a staff report or bring in experts or whatever.
@mayintoronto @chu On a pragmatic level, this is something Council would have to vote on. Implementing a commercial parking levy, while technically something the City has the power to do, has politically been a non-starter. Raising parking rates at all has only recently been raised as a possibility, and arguably the only reason it's palatable is because the TPA is rate-based and is supposed to pay for itself just like water and garbage.
Even councillors who would like transit to be free may disagree with solely using parking revenue to do it, on principle. (Probably various principles.) So it could be near impossible to get a majority on side.
Now, Olivia Chow could drink the Water of Life and become Kwitsatz Haderach and immortal God-Sandworm-Queen of Toronto, capable of using Bene Gesserit mind control techniques to bend not only Council but the province and feds to her will when they attempt to step in and intervene (you know Doug Ford would be trying to outlaw it immediately, and he would have the power to do so). But in that case, why not just get the province and feds to give Toronto a share of sales and income tax? It would be massively more lucrative than parking could ever be, and would not decrease as demand for transit increased. It is also more in line with how other jurisdictions fund transit.
Also we would save money on the capital side because with her immense, long armoured body, Olivia Chow could bore through the earth herself, making it much easier to create new transit tunnels. Although the City and province would still have to worry about expropriations, managing construction, etc.
@nev @mayintoronto @chu all that sounds cool, but could we just use the 4x automobile storage rate levy to cover maintenance of the remaining automobile storage infrastructure? Let both dwindle together.
@mayintoronto @chu @ellie more like 10 times, and not if you also want to use it to fund transit
What's transit revenue right now? About double that right? Raising parking 3X is absolutely nothing.
It should go up at least 8x to make sense for a family of four to take transit instead of drive to brunch (considering the cost of getting on the TTC)
@mayintoronto @chu TTC operating revenues are about $1.5 billion, with gross expenditures about $3 billion. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2026/bu/bgrd/backgroundfile-261481.pdf
10x increase in parking would make it make sense for a family of four to take transit to brunch instead of drive.
As it stands, it costs ~$28 to take transit there and back. Getting it done on a single transfer doesn't allow for enjoying brunch (or any other activity like the museum).
Regardless of whether transit is free, parking absolutely needs to be on par with transit costs for 4.
@mayintoronto @chu worth an op-ed at least
@mayintoronto @chu (but maybe don't put in the stuff about sandworm Olivia Chow)
@mayintoronto @chu update: i've changed my mind, it should be a point/counterpoint
"we should fund transit with parking" vs "that's not what god-empress sandworm olivia chow would do"
Fletcher asks Bradford whether they're sure that the savings will be passed on to the businesses rather than just enriching the landlords.
Cllr Colle brings up Taylor Swift again, is in full "c'mon Zeyde let's get you to bed" mode.
Cllr Matlow has a motion to ask the province and feds for a share of the HST to compensate the City for all the services and infrastructure they've downloaded over the decades, which is nice but will go nowhere.
@nev sounds like how the cops act. Why single out the TTC?
@mayintoronto the TTC is the only other agency with a similar-sized budget as the police, actually!
@mayintoronto ohhhh Bravo just moved a similar motion
