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FORUM: Budget is the news of the month (Feb. 2025)

February 21st, 2025 · No Comments

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Property tax hikes are necessary

By Dianne Saxe

I’m glad to see the days getting longer. Thank you to everyone who joined our skating/doughnut party and our climate town hall.

Months of budget work and consultations culminated at council on Feb. 11. This was a great opportunity to hear what residents want from their city and to look hard at what each department can deliver.

Thousands of Torontonians had their say. Most described painful struggles and asked passionately for more money, whether for TTC, small businesses, hunger, the arts, paramedics, homelessness, climate, TCHC, etc…Others objected to tax increases, or to spending on FIFA, Toronto Police Services, or Sankofa (formerly Yonge-Dundas Square). 

Toronto’s financial structure was set by the Baldwin Act in 1849 and is unsuitable for today’s city. City revenues grow little while costs skyrocket. Doug Ford makes it worse through downloading services, cutting development charges, keeping people on social assistance in deep poverty, and underfunding health care and housing. The result? A steady deterioration of city infrastructure and services and an explosion of homelessness; no wonder some people think our city is broken.

In this difficult context, property tax increases present real challenges for some. That’s why our budget provides more relief for the poorest homeowners.

On the other hand, there are powerful reasons for the budget spending.  

Most residents tell me they support TTC service improvements and a fare freeze, affordable and supportive housing, and more help for small businesses. It’s hugely expensive for us to do so much of the province’s job, but few residents want us to ignore the homeless or hungry schoolchildren.

Much of the rest of the budget goes to the unglamourous but essential work of infrastructure repair. Thank you for understanding that it’s a bad deal to keep property taxes so low that we let infrastructure fall apart—it’s much cheaper to fix small problems than let them grow into big ones. 

At the same time, those who pay more rightfully expect something in return. It’s a good start that this budget means faster transit and longer hours for libraries, pools, and youth hubs. More kids will get fed, emergency response will improve, and I’m building 78 new supportive homes in Kensington. But we also need to see visible improvement in basic services such as garbage, litter, and parks. I’ll be pushing for these all year.

Ultimately, we cannot successfully manage the challenges of this city using property taxes alone. Nor can we keep burning the furniture by giving up municipal assets, such as the Gardiner/ DVP. This city needs the province to allow us to have access to revenue sources that grow with the economy such as income or sales tax. 

Meanwhile, we are making progress in Ward 11.

After 10 years, the Kensington Market Heritage Conservation Plan is finally approved! At the request of the community, I helped arrange better security at the Chinatown Green P lot and at 35 Elm (TCHC). We are working with 311, transportation, TTC, Toronto Hydro, Toronto Park Authority, and the police to improve the reporting and cleanup of hate graffiti. The Annex asked for and got Toronto’s first residential cargo bike corral. Some of my staff have been handing out meals to those living outdoors.

My team and I are helping to resolve thousands of service requests about encampments, parking, crime, heritage, libraries, parks, noise, traffic, etc…Thanks for your excellent questions at our many community meetings about topics such as hospital expansions, long-term care beds, construction management and pedestrian safety. 

Construction this year should start on the Rosedale Valley multi-use trail, the Huron-Washington Playground and an Indigenous-themed park at Sussex/Spadina. The Glen Road pedestrian bridge is finally done. Step-by-step, I am also getting action on these projects: another Indigenous-themed park, the much-needed Ramsden Community Centre, a complete street and planning design for Dupont Street, the expansion of Gwendolyn MacEwen Parkette, and hostile vehicle defence (security measures used to prevent vehicle attacks) for the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre. 

None of it is easy, cheap, or quick, especially since Premier Ford’s cuts mean fewer resources and less local input on what gets built. I am therefore grateful that the 2025 Lunar New Year, the Year of the Snake, is a propitious year for intelligence, strategy, patience, persistence, and precision. We will need them all. Happy New Year to everyone!

Dianne Saxe is city councillor for Ward 11, University-Rosedale.

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Tags: Annex · Opinion