Toronto city council expected to pass new budget, 6.9% property tax hike today
Toronto city councillors will vote today on the city’s spending plan for this year.
It is highly likely that Mayor Olivia Chow’s proposed 2025 budget, including a 6.9 per cent property tax hike, will be approved by council. However, there will undoubtedly be debate as councillors discuss the spending plan and also come up with a plan for a small amount of money set aside by the mayor for councillor priorities.
The city entered the budget process with a $1.2-billion budget shortfall, which it had to fill through a combination of efficiencies and revenue increases.
The first draft of the budget was launched Jan. 13, and was followed by two weeks of public consultations and review by the budget committee. Chow then presented her revised version on Jan. 30, which was virtually unchanged from the original.
The $18.8-billion operating budget, which covers day-to-day spending, includes increased funds for areas like transit, police, libraries and affordable housing. The proposed capital budget, which pays for city roads, buildings and other infrastructure, also makes significant investments toward tackling the city’s growing state of good repair backlog.
“I think the choice is clear. We need to invest in children … feed more kids, build more housing and make TTC better,” said Chow during a final budget-related announcement on Monday, where she highlighted investments in school food programs.
Some tax hike criticism
There has been pushback from some councillors and residents over the proposed tax hike.
Speaking at Chow’s school food announcement on Monday, Coun. Vincent Crisanti said he supports keeping the student nutrition program in the budget, but he didn’t rule out pushing for cuts in other parts of the budget in order to lower the tax increase.
Coun. Brad Bradford, meanwhile, is asking council to cut property taxes by 25 per cent for small and industrial businesses to offset the possible effect of U.S. tariffs. He proposes the tax cut for industrial properties be funded through reserve funds — something Chow says she does not support.
“I do not believe that it is responsible to raid the rainy days reserve funds, because it’s only one time. What do we do next year? You take the money, it’s gone,” Chow said.
Some groups, on the other hand, have said the budget falls short in certain key areas, and have called for more investments. The Toronto Youth Cabinet, for example, wants more investment in youth programs, employment and violence prevention.
There have also been calls from some advocates to lower the budget increase for police. Chow’s budget includes a $46.2-million police budget hike.
Chow expected to have necessary council support
Overall though, it has been a relatively quiet budget season, particularly compared to last year’s, which saw the mayor in a standoff with police over funding and a property tax increase of 9.5 per cent.
Myer Siemiatycki, a professor emeritus of politics at Toronto Metropolitan University, says he believes Chow has been smart to focus on strategic investments in areas like transit and libraries.
“Additional municipal revenues are being directed to very tangible needs that exist in Toronto,” Siemiatycki said.
Councillors can make changes to the budget, but thanks to strong mayor powers, Chow can veto changes, and council would need a two-thirds majority to override her veto. Chow has previously promised not to use those powers to override a majority vote, however.
Even without exercising those powers, former city councillor Joe Mihevc expects there will be no issue getting the budget passed.
“The votes will for sure be there. There may or may not be one or two little tweaks that one or two councillors might try to put forward. But I think … this cement is drying pretty quickly right now and we’re right at the tail end,” said Mihevc, who is now an adjunct professor at York University.
Within the budget, Chow has allocated $3 million for councillor priorities. Council will debate today how that money should be spent.
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