Council rejects several taxes, levies to fund public transit

TORONTO – After roughly two days of debate, Toronto city councillors have settled on what revenue tools they’d support the province using to fund public transit.

But they have a much longer list of tools they won’t support. And in the process, they added two new subways to their transit wish list.

Councillors had been bickering since Wednesday morning about various taxes, tolls and levies the province could use to pay for its transit plan, dubbed “The Big Move.”

The plan is expected to cost upwards of $50 billion over 30 years and the province is looking to regional municipalities for recommendations on which taxes should – or should not – be used to fund the plan. Metrolinx, the province’s regional transit body, is supposed to reveal revenue recommendations later this month.

Council rejected any increases to the fuel tax, parking levies, the land transfer tax, land value capture, personal income tax, property tax, transit fares or utility prices.

Council didn’t come up with any new revenue tools, but said it doesn’t hate development charges, a sales tax, vehicle registration tax (which Mayor Rob Ford eliminated when elected) or road tolls to fund The Big Move.

And many councillors seized the opportunity to amend transit plans or discuss how the money should be spent rather than raised.

One of those amendments, approved by a vote of 35-9, was a proposal to extend the Bloor-Danforth line into Scarborough, instead of the light-rail transit previously planned.

The council also approved a motion to build a new North York Relief line by a vote of 24-19.

But it’s unclear whether any of the votes will change anything, as the plan is ultimately being spearheaded by the provincial government.