Here at Toronto City Council for the budget meeting!
Discussion
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@GraphicMatt is also liveblogging with commentary!
Cllr Perks is absent as his mother has recently passed away (there is a moment of silence for her).
Speaker Nunziata is still reading out the explanation of how the budget works. Since the provincial "strong mayor" legislation (instituted when John Tory was mayor and the province was more kindly inclined to the idea), the Mayor has much more power over the budget, and Council only has the opportunity to vote on the distribution of certain funds. She can also veto amendments for up to 10 days after the meeting.
Mayor Chow has set a 2.2% increase in residential property tax, which is basically rock bottom. This has fueled speculation that she will run again in the mayoral election this fall. Really, there are no downsides to this:
A) she runs again, opponents unable to attack her for high taxes (yes, previous years' increases were higher, but the taxpayer won't be able to remember it)
B) someone else wins the election (either because she loses or doesn't run at all): they are financially screwed and have to raise taxes more anyway, and if she runs again in the future she can attack them for either i) high taxes, ii) the social costs of austerity, or iii) both
Oh, also as per my West End Phoenix calendar, today is the birthday of the Eaton Centre!
Cllr Pasternak is taking the opportunity to inveigh against pro-Palestinian protests as "mobs on the street" and citing arrest and charge numbers that I frankly would double-check, alleging the police are "hiding behind the Charter" ("protecting the Charter" is the reply from police). No, this is not on topic.
Cllr Saxe stands up to ask the City Manager, "Why are we raising taxes again this year?" Most of the seats in my section are taken up by staff, and I hear a tired sotto voce "Oh my God…" from somewhere. The problem with "playing dumb" poorly is that if you don't pull it off, you come off as "actually dumb".
Chat, is anyone confused about why the City needs to raise taxes every year? I can explain if people really need it.
Saxe next asks a question on everyone's mind: given the massive police corruption scandal just uncovered, are any changes to the police budget warranted? This is mostly rhetorical so I don't pay attention to the answer. (The police budget is getting their requested increase and that is unlikely to change unless the mayor personally desires it, which given aforesaid upcoming election she probably doesn't)
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Wow, we actually got a mention of the property tax deferral/cancellation program for seniors with disabilities before someone complained that tax increases will make seniors with disabilities homeless. (Once they're homeless, fuck 'em)
Budget Chief Shelley Carroll obliquely defends the 7% police budget increase, saying it's largely "built-in" to phase in the costs of the latest collective bargaining agreement.
Bored so paging through Briefing Notes again. Ones I recommend reading/looking through further:
- #6: State of good repair backlog (PDF)
- #9: 2026 service levels in the prepared budget (PDF): a good place to find less-advertised cuts
- #21: Cycling network implementation (PDF) - note that "cycle tracks" are the only category that many people would really count as "bike lanes"
Absolute fucking useless briefing note: #13: Budget reductions and offsets (PDF), which just refers you to the individual division notes. "Details of Efficiencies identified in the 2026 budget are available in the individual Division and Agency budget notes." if you're going to make me read through every single budget note why are you even doing a briefing note aaaghhhhghgh