Richard White
Senior Member
Perhaps we need to request a staff report and/or study on why this is the case.
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- Thread starter DSCToronto
- Start date
Perhaps we need to request a staff report and/or study on why this is the case.
Northern Light
Superstar
While there are other factors, the biggest is the terrible snow removal contracts the City signed in 2021 under then Mayor Tory, which run through 2029.
Aside from using many new/unproven players who promised to cut costs............... the penalties for not complying with service standards were reduced up to 95%.
Add to that, the City's own fleet of top tier equipment, like the giant snow melters used to get rid of snowbanks has dwindled from 5 to 2 since the Miller era.
Oh there's a report coming.........probably 2 actually.........and I wouldn't rule out 3.
DSCToronto
Superstar
The City finances were a TOTAL mess due to Mayors Ford & Tory refusing to raise taxes. Clearing snow is important but so are MANY other things. Toronto taxes are still lower than in many places.
afransen
Senior Member
I have to say, I've been impressed with the snow clearing in Mississauga. Pretty excellent job clearing sidewalks after the first couple days.
Admiral Beez
Superstar
I'll actually be glad (somewhat) when Toronto's taxes are higher than most places, since this old tome of an excuse for municipal incompetence and neglect will no longer be trotted out. What will future mayors and city managers tell us when they're presumably rolling in revenue but still can't clear the snow, keep vagrants and junkies out of our parks, can't maintain the infrastructure, keep a clean and tidy public realm, or run the TTC without delays and failures, or reduce congestion?
evandyk
Senior Member
I hadn't seen this before, and it's undated, so I'm not sure when it came out (though it has up-to-date data) but it has some nice graphics and a good tax calculator at the bottom.
www.thestar.com
Put together by some pretty knowledgeable people.
Toronto’s property taxes are going up. Here’s how much you could end up paying — and how that compares to Mississauga, Hamilton and other Ontario cities
Use the Star’s interactive tool to see how Toronto’s 6.9 per cent proposed hike measures up — and see how much you could end up paying.
www.thestar.com
Put together by some pretty knowledgeable people.
Northern Light
Superstar
I hadn't seen this before, and it's undated, so I'm not sure when it came out (though it has up-to-date data) but it has some nice graphics and a good tax calculator at the bottom.
Toronto’s property taxes are going up. Here’s how much you could end up paying — and how that compares to Mississauga, Hamilton and other Ontario cities
Use the Star’s interactive tool to see how Toronto’s 6.9 per cent proposed hike measures up — and see how much you could end up paying.
View attachment 632970
Put together by some pretty knowledgeable people.
Here's some food for thought.
Suppose we bumped that number above for Toronto to the same as Mississauga. An extra ~$1,800 per year Still leaves us roughly in the middle of the pack.
If you applied that to every residential unit in Toronto (includes rental and condo, and for simplicity sake, I'm apply the number equally though obviously many units will be worth more and some less.
It would add 2.25 Billion to the City's annual budget.
If you applied the same idea exclusively to single-family homes, which are 39% of the total. Its still an extra 877M per year.
***
What could that look like in the real world?
Let me split the difference of the 2 numbers above at 1.5B
We'll allocate 1/2 to infrastructure - over 10 years, that's 15B.
That would build you the WELRT, fully funded, deliver platform edge doors throughout the subway, and leave you some leftover for better routine maintanence.
The remain 1/2, at 750M a year....could:
Eliminate Recreation User Fees entirely, and boost spots by 15%
Implement a 40-fare monthly cap for TTC fares, with a 3-hour fare window.
And boost TTC service a whopping 10% with some change to spare.
evandyk
Senior Member
I think the article does fail to mention that Toronto is the only city with a municipal land transfer tax, which brings in a billion dollars a year and is paid by homeowners in Toronto. But I'm in favour of an additional $1800/year for those things.
txlseries4
Active Member
Matt Elliott on Bluesky:
Full set of Mayor Chow's recommendations to the Executive Committee and AG on improving snow clearing/removal.
Timing has been a problem with these sorts of reviews in the past. By the time reports get done, it’s July & no one cares about snow anymore. Mayor & Council will need to stay on it.
Full set of Mayor Chow's recommendations to the Executive Committee and AG on improving snow clearing/removal.
Timing has been a problem with these sorts of reviews in the past. By the time reports get done, it’s July & no one cares about snow anymore. Mayor & Council will need to stay on it.
DSCToronto
Superstar
Councillor Saxe, who often brings forward good ideas, has proposed a motion to the Infrastructure Committee that could, if implemented, return us to the patchwork quilt version of snow clearing we had here until a couple of years ago.
Wards: All
1. Direct the General Manager, Transportation Services, in consultation with the Executive Director, Municipal Licencing and Standards, to report back to Infrastructure and Environment Committee in the third quarter of 2025 with a detailed plan to restore the responsibility of corporate property owners to promptly clear snow and ice from sidewalks abutting their property."
SEE: https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2025.IE19.12
Though I certainly agree that the clearing of snow after the recent snowfalls was poorly handled by the City, the answer is not to return to the piecemeal and ridiculous rules of a few years ago. In the past, one passed a building who had shoveled a narrow path by hand , one who had (only) salted, one who had a tractor to push a wide path through the snow and one who had done nothing. Having sidewalks plowed in a UNIFORM way is essential for mobility and this means the City should do it. Just because the City contractors seemed unable to perform adequately this winter is no reason to return to the old way of doing things. It did not work!
The answer to poor snow clearing is for City staff to properly supervise the snow removal contractors and for there to be significant penalties imposed for poor (or non-existent) snow clearing.
IE19.12 - Corporate Landowners Should Have to Clear their Sidewalks Again
Consideration Type: ACTIONWards: All
Origin
(February 25, 2025) Letter from Councillor Dianne SaxeRecommendations
Councillor Dianne Saxe recommends that the Infrastructure and Environment Committee:1. Direct the General Manager, Transportation Services, in consultation with the Executive Director, Municipal Licencing and Standards, to report back to Infrastructure and Environment Committee in the third quarter of 2025 with a detailed plan to restore the responsibility of corporate property owners to promptly clear snow and ice from sidewalks abutting their property."
SEE: https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2025.IE19.12
Though I certainly agree that the clearing of snow after the recent snowfalls was poorly handled by the City, the answer is not to return to the piecemeal and ridiculous rules of a few years ago. In the past, one passed a building who had shoveled a narrow path by hand , one who had (only) salted, one who had a tractor to push a wide path through the snow and one who had done nothing. Having sidewalks plowed in a UNIFORM way is essential for mobility and this means the City should do it. Just because the City contractors seemed unable to perform adequately this winter is no reason to return to the old way of doing things. It did not work!
The answer to poor snow clearing is for City staff to properly supervise the snow removal contractors and for there to be significant penalties imposed for poor (or non-existent) snow clearing.
evandyk
Senior Member
They should add a "snow removal levy" to corporate property taxes, then use that money to do it. They could calculate it by the cm of snow!
rbt
Senior Member
We should probably have a land-tax per foot of frontage in addition to property taxes set at something like $2/month/per-foot. The city has many costs, snow clearing is one of them, which correlate to the width of the lot rather than the number of residents.
guavadelic
Active Member
Has the city gotten slower in fixing potholes? Eglinton Ave from Keele St to Dufferin is in terrible condition. The number of potholes is out of control.
The condition of the road wasn't great to begin with but the potholes now are so numerous that they're almost impossible to avoid.
The condition of the road wasn't great to begin with but the potholes now are so numerous that they're almost impossible to avoid.
DSCToronto
Superstar
Not an excuse but the weather this winter has certainly created FAR more potholes than those of last few years. In addition, pothole fixing City staff have been busy (well, not very busy!) shoveling snow.
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Amare
Senior Member
Ever since the mayor and a couple councillors called out contractors and workers for not removing snow a few days ago, i've seen and heard of them getting up from their a**** and finally doing their job in removing snow. Yesterday they were removing snow downtown, and i've heard from family and friends who live in different areas of the city that snow around their areas was finally removed yesterday as well. Prior to this i've seen snow being removed, but at a very slow pace.
That doesnt excuse their lackadaisical approach to the issue, or the previous mayor and council who decide to go and approve having no penalties to contractors who fail to remove snow within a certain period of time. This city never learns from previous mistakes.