‘Our Tax Dollars’ Archives
2010 Toronto Road Tolls – Congestion Tax
We have been hearing about an increase in parking taxes and now there is a lot of discussion around introducing road tolls. Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion suggests the new revenue source is necessary to fund the expansion in public transit across GTA. This is a solution to partially address structural funding shortfall. We have a lot to [...]
Toronto Transit Budget Gap
Image by Allan Rostron via Flickr The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) operates 3rd busiest transit system in North America. Ridership 280M per year Annual Operating budget 1.4B Employees 11,861 This would make the cost per ride about $5. If you compared this against New York Public Transportation [...]
Ontario’s New 13% Harmonized Sales Tax – What It Will Mean To You
Next summer (2010) the Ontario Government is set to put into force its new harmonized GST/PST sales tax which will apply a 13% sales tax to everything we purchase. Things That Were Not Subject To The Current 8% PST Will Be Now Taxed As a result, things that were not previously taxed under the current Ontario Provincial Sales Tax (PST) will be [...]
The City of Toronto Cut Budget
The city of Toronto aims to cut 10% or $343 M from its operating budget over the next couple of years. Thank goodness we have a law in place that doesn't allow Toronto and other municipalities to run in red otherwise we would be in no better shape than Ontario province which has a record deficit of $24.7 B. The estimated fiscal shortfall [...]
Toronto Operating Budget Facts
This is based on Property Tax of $2,336 for an average house with an assessed value of $387,680 Police Service and Board $582 TTC $257 Fire Services $242 Toronto Employment and Social Services [...]
Toronto – City Renumeration and Expenses
Here is some interesting data from city of Toronto remuneration and expenses report: Toronto Mayor has an Office budget of $2,599,400 that includes $2,306,345.54 for staff salaries and benefits (equivalent to 23 full time staff). That would mean ~$100,000 per staff member ! Pam McConnell, ward No. 28 has spend over $11,873 on [...]
Lets close some pools so we can build a library ..
Brentwood Branch Renovation and Expansion This project includes a partial demolition/reconstruction, renovation and expansion (3,885 sq. ft.) of this 52 year old building, which will result in approximately 17,500 sq. ft. of floor space for the branch to respond to the needs of existing and increased population from major residential development [...]
Our Tax Dollars at Work …..
One industrious Toronto Transit Commission ticket collector earned $125,000 and change last year working overtime, doubling his original salary. He was among 21 token collectors and 62 bus, streetcar and subway drivers who earned over $100,000 last year, according to a list of public sector salaries. Some 1,500 people in the employ of the [...]
Are we spending our tax dollars wisely?
"...Brentwood Library Renovation/Expansion project required an increase of $1.739 million ($1.739 million debt) to reflect rising construction costs estimates." "TORONTO, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Ontario's government said on Thursday it will run a record budget deficit of C$24.7 billion ..." What do you think, are we spending our tax dollars [...]
Toronto Public Library – New Brentwood Library
Renovations and expansion are in the works for Toronto Public Library's Brentwood Branch. The plan is to add an additional 3,200 sq. ft. flooring with the addition of a third floor and elimination of all parking spaces. An application was made to the City Planning committee with "Minor Variance Adjustment Permission". The Toronto Library [...]
