Nope.
I only criticize the right because they're making the biggest screw ups right now.
I'm not a big fan of cap n' trade if you want an example of a criticism of the left.
It’s either layoffs or major tax increases: Ford
- Thread starter mentalfloss
- Start date
Nope.
I only criticize the right because they're making the biggest screw ups right now.
I'm not a big fan of cap n' trade if you want an example of a criticism of the left.
They're in charge. But I just watched you defend Millers gross spending. So you'll have to keep trying.
Still rings hollow. But keep trying.
It's not just about spending. Obviously there are revenues as well.
Just as there isn't simply austerity, but also vital services that must be provided.
I'm not going to sit here and try and pass the bloody CDNBear test.
You must think pretty highly of yourself, lol
Obviously. But Ford didn't cause this mess. He inherited it.
No one said you had to. But I was suprised when you tried, in a few posts.
Do I really have to type out that saying about grasping the obvious again?
Maybe if you thought highly of yourself, you wouldn't make as many mistakes as you do.
Pain is temporary, pride is forever.
From $350 million surplus to $774 million deficit in one Ford yearUp 100 million a year, as the economy was tanking?
Good thinking there I tells ya!
I guess that makes Bush' budgetary policy good thinking too.
Tony's 50 shouldn't even be a blip on your radar.
We’ve heard a lot recently from Mayor Rob Ford and his supporters about how the city is facing a $774 million budget hole. This crisis is used to explain why we need to consider the possibility of slashing snow removal, contracting out garbage collection and stopping the practice of fluoridating the water.
Councillor Gord Perks, who sat on the budget committee of David Miller (and alongside Shelley Carroll and Kyle Rae, did most of the heavy lifting of actually writing those last few David Miller budgets) says:
The mayor’s allies are profoundly misleading Torontonians. [...] In 2010 we ran a $350 [million] surplus. I don’t understand how in one year that becomes a $774 million deficit. The important thing is though, that water and garbage are not on the property tax, so none of the cuts to things like environment days or fluoridation or any of that has a single thing to do with your property taxes.
To which, I imagine the vast majority of readers say, “WTF?” At least, that’s what my work colleague Rob Duffy said to me, demanding an explanation. Has Rob Ford really dug a $1 billion hole in during his eight months in the mayor’s chair?
Not exactly. Perks is not lying, those numbers are more or less accurate. But for their shock value, they do a bit of fancy dancing around our concepts of what the budget is and means, and leave out some pertinent details. The fact is that Ford is using the projected deficit number for 2012 for shock value to justify cutting services, while Perks is using the actual surplus number from 2010 to justify saving them.
Here’s how it actually works:
First of all, when we discuss the budget, we mostly talk about the projected budget that gets approved by council: it itemizes the amount of money each department is allowed to spend in the upcoming year. This budget is required by provincial law to balance: no council can pass a budget that projects an operating deficit.
[*]
For years, the city of Toronto has faced a structural deficit of about $500-$700 million dollars. This means that every year when we write out our projected expenses and our projected revenue, we see a shortfall of about half a billion. Once that number is announced, there’s usually a period of shock-inspiring possible cuts announced to illustrate how serious the problem is. [**] Then, when the panic has taken hold, everyone goes about shaving a bit here, deferring expenses there, across every department, until the $700 million number gets down to zero. This is the same way you might, in your home budget, decide that rather than selling your car to make your budget balance, you’ll budget $10 less per week for groceries, $20 less per week for entertainment, and $5 less per week for coffee, etc. etc. Since this is projected spending—the size of each department’s allowance—the money can usually be found. The budget is balanced, and then it gets passed by council.
In 2010, for example—the year Perks is referring to—the city faced a projected deficit of $821 million. After weeks of haggling, that number was balanced without any significant service cuts at all, and with just a 4 per cent tax increase for residents (lower for businesses).
This process has taken place under Mel Lastman and David Miller pretty much every year since amalgamation.
Now, at the end of the year, after all the money has been spent, we take our projected budget—which was approved at the start of the year by the process I just outlined—and compare it to what we actually spent. As you’d hope, we usually find that we did not spend every penny we budgeted: we have a surplus. This is because the budget contains enough money to deal with emergencies that may arise (for example, you budget enough money that even if there’s a big blizzard, you’ll still be able to afford to clear the snow). It’s also because the city staff are drilled with a mantra to save money wherever possible, so in many cases if a staff member unexpectedly quits, they are not replaced and their work is reassigned, for example. The budget is intended to provide us enough money to get through a year where costs are higher than usual. Which means in a normal year where no emergency-spending situations arise, we should show a surplus. (This will be true of your home budget, too, if you’re doing it right). This surplus can be rolled into the following year’s budget to defray the new projected deficit.
In most years, the surplus has been $50-$60 million. In 2009, in part due to the garbage strike and lighter than usual snowfall, it was $181 million. In 2010, partly due to higher than expected revenue from parking fees and from investments the city had made, we showed an unusually large surplus, as Perks says, of $350 million. That lowered the traditional budget hole Ford faced for the 2011 budget considerably.
So you see: while Perks is technically right, there’s another, perhaps more accurate way to phrase all this. It is that going into the 2010 budget season, David Miller faced a projected budget shortfall of more than $800 million, and he managed not only to balance the budget without cutting any services at all, but to eventually show a huge surplus. So why is the somewhat smaller shortfall that Ford faces an emergency? Why would this, lesser crisis, require considering slashing whole government departments?
Now. A few other things: that $774 million hole we’re all told to panic about would be considerably smaller if Ford had not eliminated the vehicle registration tax, frozen TTC fares and frozen property taxes.
And finally, as Perks notes at the end of his quote, garbage collection and water services are both paid for directly through people’s water bills, or “Utility Bills,” as the city calls them, not from general revenues. So cutting them will have no impact on property tax rates, nor, presumably, on the projected budget deficit. Cutting those things would have, I think, the effect of lowering people’s water bills. Which may be a valuable goal (or it may not be), but is a sideshow from the real budget discussions.
http://www.thegridto.com/city/polit...plus-to-774-million-deficit-in-one-ford-year/
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Oh you think you're oooooh so crafty, don't you.
So can we agree then, that:
1.) Ford did not cause this
and
2.) Miller did not cause this
and
3.) The amalgamation of Toronto did cause this
I don't think I am crafty, I know I'm objective smart enough not to buy the biased bologna.Oh you think you're oooooh so crafty, don't you.
Yes.
Partially. If we ignore your feelings about excuses. Because Miller made several costly deals, that have long reaching finger prints.
Why do you think most municipalities contract out garbage collection?
Partially. But then you'd have to forget what you were saying about excuses again.
Mayor asks McGuinty for $650-million to help fund Sheppard subway expansion
A mayor who rode to city hall on twin promises to introduce more disciplined spending and build a new subway line has turned to Queen’s Park for $650-million to help bankroll the project.
In a meeting with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty on Wednesday, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford asked for the provincial funding to kick-start the expansion of the Sheppard subway. He also sought additional money for daycare spaces and the go-ahead to sell 900 social-housing units.
The subway request is a reversal for Mr. Ford. He agreed with the Ontario government in the spring that the city would pay for the $4.2-billion extension of the Sheppard line east into Scarborough with money from the private sector while provincial taxpayers would underwrite the $8.2-billion cross-city light-rail line under Eglinton Avenue.
The visit may also signal a shift in the balance of power between the mayor, elected last year with a substantial majority, and a premier facing an election in seven weeks.
The subway expansion is a flagship project for Mr. Ford, one he campaigned on during last year’s municipal election.
“I’m looking for all the money we can find,” he told reporters. “I’m looking for federal, provincial, private-sector money.”
The mayor suggested that Ontario’s governing Liberals could lose support from voters in Scarborough in the coming provincial election if they do not help fund the subway project. Municipal voters, he noted, overwhelmingly supported his platform.
Mr. McGuinty gave the green light last March to the mayor’s plan to completely bury the Eglinton LRT line and build the subway extension, helping him fulfill his pledge to kill Transit City.
“I campaigned on the Sheppard subway,” Mr. Ford said. “He knows that. I know that.”
But much has changed since the right-leaning Mr. Ford swept to victory on a promise to stop the “gravy train.” In recent weeks, the once unassailable mayor has come under enormous criticism over a core service review suggesting deep cuts to city services in order to erase a $774-million deficit.
At the same time, the fortunes of the Liberals appear to be improving. While they are still lagging behind the Progressive Conservatives, the gap is narrowing, according to a new Nanos Research poll.
Mr. McGuinty did not promise to pony up any money for the city during the meeting. But he did pledge to work together with Mr. Ford to encourage Ottawa to advance $333-million in federal grants sooner. The Premier’s conciliatory tone, observers say, could make it difficult for Mr. Ford to campaign against him.
The mayor threatened earlier this year to unleash “Ford Nation” and make sure the Liberals do not win a third term on Oct. 6 if they did not agree to his request for $150-million in funding.
Mr. McGuinty told reporters in a separate media scrum that he did not ask Mr. Ford whether he still plans to campaign against him.
“We didn’t get into that,” Mr. McGuinty said. “We had a cordial, civil, productive meeting. “My responsibility as Premier is to find some common ground. I’m called upon to work with all kinds of representatives and my heavy responsibility is to find ways to advance the greater public interest.”
For his part, Mr. Ford said he isn’t asking the province for new money for the subway. Under the old Transit City plan, Ottawa and Ontario had agreed to fund an LRT line along Sheppard Avenue. But Ottawa made its $333-million in grants conditional on the money being spent by 2014.
Mr. Ford is worried that the city will lose the federal funding if the province does not come through with its Transit City funding. The province has now re-allocated its $650-million share of the funding to the Eglinton LRT.
Mr. McGuinty said he will give some thought to Mr. Ford’s request, but he said he has a “slightly different take” on the $650-million. The province could make up to $650-million available but only once costs are determined on the Eglinton LRT.
“And it’s pretty hard to make that determination at this point in time,” he said.
Mr. Ford said he plans to meet with opposition leaders and make the same request of them. But the Progressive Conservatives appear non-committal and the New Democrats would outright reject the request for subway money.
Progressive Conservative MPP Elizabeth Witmer declined to comment on the subway project but said her party has pledged to spend $35-billion on infrastructure in the province, including public transit and roads.
New Democratic MPP Michael Prue said his party would not make any funds available for the project.
“He said that the private sector would build and we hold him to his word,” Mr. Prue said.
Mayor asks McGuinty for $650-million to help fund Sheppard subway expansion - The Globe and Mail
A mayor who rode to city hall on twin promises to introduce more disciplined spending and build a new subway line has turned to Queen’s Park for $650-million to help bankroll the project.
In a meeting with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty on Wednesday, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford asked for the provincial funding to kick-start the expansion of the Sheppard subway. He also sought additional money for daycare spaces and the go-ahead to sell 900 social-housing units.
The subway request is a reversal for Mr. Ford. He agreed with the Ontario government in the spring that the city would pay for the $4.2-billion extension of the Sheppard line east into Scarborough with money from the private sector while provincial taxpayers would underwrite the $8.2-billion cross-city light-rail line under Eglinton Avenue.
The visit may also signal a shift in the balance of power between the mayor, elected last year with a substantial majority, and a premier facing an election in seven weeks.
The subway expansion is a flagship project for Mr. Ford, one he campaigned on during last year’s municipal election.
“I’m looking for all the money we can find,” he told reporters. “I’m looking for federal, provincial, private-sector money.”
The mayor suggested that Ontario’s governing Liberals could lose support from voters in Scarborough in the coming provincial election if they do not help fund the subway project. Municipal voters, he noted, overwhelmingly supported his platform.
Mr. McGuinty gave the green light last March to the mayor’s plan to completely bury the Eglinton LRT line and build the subway extension, helping him fulfill his pledge to kill Transit City.
“I campaigned on the Sheppard subway,” Mr. Ford said. “He knows that. I know that.”
But much has changed since the right-leaning Mr. Ford swept to victory on a promise to stop the “gravy train.” In recent weeks, the once unassailable mayor has come under enormous criticism over a core service review suggesting deep cuts to city services in order to erase a $774-million deficit.
At the same time, the fortunes of the Liberals appear to be improving. While they are still lagging behind the Progressive Conservatives, the gap is narrowing, according to a new Nanos Research poll.
Mr. McGuinty did not promise to pony up any money for the city during the meeting. But he did pledge to work together with Mr. Ford to encourage Ottawa to advance $333-million in federal grants sooner. The Premier’s conciliatory tone, observers say, could make it difficult for Mr. Ford to campaign against him.
The mayor threatened earlier this year to unleash “Ford Nation” and make sure the Liberals do not win a third term on Oct. 6 if they did not agree to his request for $150-million in funding.
Mr. McGuinty told reporters in a separate media scrum that he did not ask Mr. Ford whether he still plans to campaign against him.
“We didn’t get into that,” Mr. McGuinty said. “We had a cordial, civil, productive meeting. “My responsibility as Premier is to find some common ground. I’m called upon to work with all kinds of representatives and my heavy responsibility is to find ways to advance the greater public interest.”
For his part, Mr. Ford said he isn’t asking the province for new money for the subway. Under the old Transit City plan, Ottawa and Ontario had agreed to fund an LRT line along Sheppard Avenue. But Ottawa made its $333-million in grants conditional on the money being spent by 2014.
Mr. Ford is worried that the city will lose the federal funding if the province does not come through with its Transit City funding. The province has now re-allocated its $650-million share of the funding to the Eglinton LRT.
Mr. McGuinty said he will give some thought to Mr. Ford’s request, but he said he has a “slightly different take” on the $650-million. The province could make up to $650-million available but only once costs are determined on the Eglinton LRT.
“And it’s pretty hard to make that determination at this point in time,” he said.
Mr. Ford said he plans to meet with opposition leaders and make the same request of them. But the Progressive Conservatives appear non-committal and the New Democrats would outright reject the request for subway money.
Progressive Conservative MPP Elizabeth Witmer declined to comment on the subway project but said her party has pledged to spend $35-billion on infrastructure in the province, including public transit and roads.
New Democratic MPP Michael Prue said his party would not make any funds available for the project.
“He said that the private sector would build and we hold him to his word,” Mr. Prue said.
Mayor asks McGuinty for $650-million to help fund Sheppard subway expansion - The Globe and Mail