Thought you were about to read another blog on the occupy movement, didn’t you? Fooled you!
Our Mayor, Joe Fontana, wants to put a 1% levy on our property taxes and to use the money – $70 million over 5 years – for economic development. He wants to dedicate it to getting land along the 401 ready for sale, build a new city hall (the old one is pretty cramped and outdated) and big projects like that. The 24 dollars becomes $120 in year five for reasons I won’t get into here but still, it’s not a lot of money in the giant scheme of things.
I’m not a big fan of Joe’s “zero tax increase” theme song. Some things are worth paying for. Council has to find millions in savings or new revenue before the February 21st budget deadline and some things we hold dear could be on the line. I’d rather play a bit more tax. A BIT. We don’t even have a green bin program here although there is a small pilot project underway which seems kind of wasteful to me because the program has already done well in other cities for many years. And then when you look federally, there’s Peter MacKay, the federal Defence Minister, who spent almost $5,000. on plane tickets to the Grey Cup because he bought and expensed two first-class tickets at the last minute even though the schedule is publicized about a year in advance.
But I digress.
I actually find the 1% levy idea rather refreshing. Imagine knowing exactly where $24 new dollars on my property tax bill are going. Those funds have a specific purpose. And preparing this city for new businesses to move in and new jobs to be created is just about the best idea I can think of.
I don’t usually talk about how I vote but I can tell you that I did not vote for Joe Fontana. However, during his first year in office he has impressed me in many ways. He’s a guy who works his tail off with a consistent message and focus on where he wants our city to improve. He’s not the old-school guy I quite wrongly assumed he would be. He’s the first London Mayor to ever march in the gay pride parade and darn it all, it looked like he was having fun! (Keep in mind that London’s gay pride parade is a world away from Toronto’s. It’s a tame and family-friendly event.) If I am assured that $24 more dollars will go toward improving our city’s future, well just let me open my wallet. I’ve spent more this year on clothes that hang unworn in my closet. Surely the economic health of our city is at least equal to an ill-fitting organic cotton and bamboo shirt?