I don't understand what the issue is here. If you live in this city, you benefit from the services that the city provides. Whether or not you go to the library, take swimming lessons, or even use public transit, you still have a sidewalk to walk on. You still drive your car on a paved road. You're still protected by the police, and can go to a restaurant knowing that it is maintained to a certain standard of cleanliness. Everyone should pay up and stop complaining.
And as for businesses, they are one of the most fundamental and essential components of this and any other city and need to be kept happy. We can all tolerate degrading transit, pot holes, and crumbling schools to a certain extent. But take away Toronto's job base, and people would leave. As much as I like to say that I choose to live downtown because I like the neighbourhood, I wouldn't think twice about leaving if the only place I could be gainfully employed was 50 km away in the suburbs.
One of the more stressful months I ever had to endure was when my company announced that they would be moving. Given the high concentration of similar companies in the suburbs, I was literally freaking out. Thankfully the company, it's tax dollars, and therefore my tax dollars, stayed downtown.