B-day, as in budget day, at City Hall this a.m. Much ado beforehand about what cuts Rob “Grim Reaper” Ford would make with that cleaver he’s been threatening to wield on city spending.
But the feared buckets of blood that observers believed would be left on the cutting room floor have ended up being a few drops ¬- for now. The recommended budget of $9.396 billion is actually $68 million more than last year. Call it Chinese torture.
The real bloodletting won’t come until later, when contracts for cops and fire services are factored in. A contingency fund has been set up to cover those costs, or so we’re told. But hard to know for sure since the detailed budget documents weren’t presented at this morning’s unveiling. They’ll be ready for councillors later today.
The absurd thing about the whole exercise: The $346 million surplus left from the previous administration under David Miller is what’s allowed Ford to bring in a balanced budget without any “major” service cuts – that is, if you consider closure of the urban affairs library at Metro Hall a minor cut, or, doing away with bus routes “minor.”
Which brings us to the one bomb that did go off before the budget meeting. The TTC announced that its board will consider a 10 cent fare increase at a special meeting Wednesday. A couple of dozen late-night bus routes are on the chopping block. TTC officials are blaming the demands of higher ridership, customer service improvements and maintenance of subway stations for the proposed increase.
The war on the car is over, thanks to Ford’s repeal of the $60 vehicle registration fee, which will rob $50 million from city coffers this year. The war on transit has been engaged.
But back to the numbers. Here’s the Cole’s notes version of the operating budget for 2011.
The broad strokes
• Staff’s line-by-line review of the city budget didn’t exactly net the big savings promised by Ford and company. Staff found $57 million in “service efficiencies.” Chief among those efficiencies: $100K from the tenant defence fund and another $100K from shelter budget as it relates to housing for refugee claimants. They’ll be put up in motels instead.
• The good news for the city is that the province has agreed to upload some $63 million in Ontario Works costs, thanks again to Miller and a deal brokered by the previous regime.
• The bad news for the city is that the province has yet to commit to any permanent and predictable funding for transit, so Ford will have to go begging, something he said he would not do.
• On that Chinese torture theme, there’ll be big rate increases in water, wastewater and stormwater services: 10.8 per cent for residents and 8.6 per cent on business. That may not be the end of it for increases here, though, as the city still has one of the lowest water rates in the GTA, second lowest only to Peel.
The big ifs
• There are a number of assumptions made in the budget about revenue sources for the city. The land transfer tax, which city staff has penciled in to provide some $45 million in revenue, is relying on the housing market to rebound. But beyond 2011, it’s unclear where money will come from to cover that revenue. Ford has promised to abolish the tax.
• Media attention has been focused on the police budget and the fact the department’s three per cent budget increase request for 2011 doesn’t factor in any pay increase, which may mean another $30 million added to the city’s bottom line. But also not tallied is what impact wage increases for firefighters will have on the bottom line in 2011.
• Nothing has been left in reserve fund, which means the city will may to borrow money if, say, it snows like crazy this year and we need more money to plow roads.
