This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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Even though Toronto’s Mayor, Rob Ford, might have lost majority of his key powers at city council last year, his influential can still be seen. The recipient of majority most of Mr. Ford’s powers in a council vote, Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly, clarified his position on Wednesday morning as he shifted more towards Ford-like tight-fisted view of the city’s 2014 budget.
In the press release issued from his office on Wednesday morning, Mr. Kelly alleged that he will support a 2014 budget with a 1.75 per cent property tax increase, even though the increase recommended by the city’s own staff was 2 per cent. On the other hand, Mr. Kelly revealed that he will only support a 0.5 tax levy for subways remaining as is, i.e. 2.25 per cent tax hike overall. This announcement has been made by Mr. Kelly has come only a short while before the final budget committee meeting during which the 2014 budget will be expectedly voted upon and passed to the city’s executive committee. From the looks of it, Mr. Kelly’s proposal seems to be a settlement between the staff-proposed position and Mayor Ford’s.
Mayor Ford outspokenly disapproved the proposed 2-per-cent hike in recent months, asserting that the proposed budget is full of “gravy” and insisted that the rate increase should be held at 1.75 per cent, inclusive of the subway levy. Mr. Kelly mentioned that “we must move forward in a fiscally responsible manner, ensuring that we acknowledge the challenges of our individual taxpayers,” while adding that “at the same time, we cannot ignore the social challenges and the growing needs of our communities.”
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