Budget Town Hall meeting hosted by Beaches-East York Councillor Bradford set for Feb. 8

By AMARACHI AMADIKE, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On Thursday, Feb. 8, one week after Mayor Olivia Chow’s official 2024 Toronto budget proposal is released, Beaches East-York Councillor Brad Bradford will be hosting a Budget Town Hall meeting for residents to share concerns and ask questions on the financial plan for the city.

Chow has participated in a number of budget consultation and public engagement sessions this month, including last week in the wards of Toronto-Danforth and Scarborough Southwest, and she will release her proposed 2024 city budget on Thursday, Feb. 1. A special meeting of Toronto Council will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 14, to vote on the budget.

A vocal critic of city staff’s budget recommendations, Bradford’s Budget Town Hall meeting is expected to focus on discussions opposing the proposed nine per cent property tax increase and 1.5 per cent increase to the city building levy as well as ways to close the current $1.776 billion opening budget pressure the city is facing. The Feb. 8 meeting will take place at the East York Civic Centre, 850 Coxwell Ave., from 6 to 8 p.m.

“The reason we went from a $1.5 billion opening budget pressure last year to $1.8 billion is because (Mayor Chow) has increased spending by $300 million dollars,” said Bradford in a recent interview with Beach Metro Community News.

At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, TTC ridership reduced by 88 per cent as most residents were forced to stay at home. Although ridership has since picked up, Toronto has struggled to return to pre-COVID service levels. Bradford said that irresponsible decisions pertaining to TTC operations have played a major role in the city’s worsening budget pressures.

“A big thing is that (Mayor Chow) reinstated the TTC to 100 per cent operating levels and instituted a fare freeze, but we don’t have 100 per cent ridership,” said Bradford.

“We’re still at ridership levels that are at pandemic-esque levels. The cost per rider subsidy that taxpayers pay goes up because we have fewer riders,” he said.

As of December 2023, only 57 per cent of riders had returned to commuting with TTC. In an attempt to make up for lost revenue as a result of the city’s inability to return to pre-pandemic ridership levels, Toronto Council increased transit fares by 10 cents last year.

However, Torontonians who still frequent the transit system – particularly in Scarborough where services drastically declined in many neighbourhoods – have complained about the irrationality of increasing fares while decreasing services. Hence, the fare-freeze.

Although Chow is attempting to correct mistakes of the past, Bradford said she is taking the wrong approach as her decisions on TTC have further strained an already struggling city budget process.

“The province didn’t come through with money for operational services and infrastructure for her to just go spend new money elsewhere,” said Bradford.

With Ontario’s “new deal” with the City of Toronto freeing up finances that many expected would help ease Toronto’s budget pressures, residents have been skeptical about why an unprecedented property tax hike is still being floated as a viable solution.

Although the Province of Ontario has pledged $1.2 billion in operating support over three years as well as $3 billion in capital support over 10 years, there are pieces of the new deal that are contingent on the federal government’s ability to match contributions.

“A new arrangement needs to be struck between Canadian municipalities, provinces and the federal government. There’s no doubt about that,” said Bradford.

“But at the same time, I think the province and federal government are looking at Toronto and the billions of dollars in subsidies that have been (secured) over the past couple months and they’re asking the same questions I am. Why are you taking a historic tax increase in the midst of an affordability crisis?”

Advocates of the proposed budget have reiterated that the idea is to create revenue that is tied to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth. However, Bradford said that this will not come as a result of property taxes and that what Toronto really needs is a  “dedicated portion of the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax)”.

Like Chow’s push for a Toronto-specific sales tax, however, Bradford acknowledged that getting a portion of the HST dedicated for the city is highly unlikely. He said that a good place to start looking for alternate solutions would be for Toronto Council to do its due diligence and find savings through a Core Service Review.

Last year, councillors voted against Bradford’s motion for a Core Service Review by an external entity and opted instead for an in-house review which they claim has resulted in $650 million in savings due to offsets and reductions.

At Bradford’s Feb. 8 budget town hall, Beaches-East York constituents will have an opportunity to further discuss all aspects of the 2024 budget. Residents who are interested in participating can do so by attending the event at the East York Civic Centre from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, email Bradford’s office at Councillor_Bradford@Toronto.ca or check his social media on X, formerly Twitter, for more information.

– Amarachi Amadike is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for Beach Metro Community News. His reporting is funded by the Government of Canada through its Local Journalism Initiative.