Tag: revenue tools

Olivia Chow’s Financial Plan Takes Form

Olivia Chow’s Financial Plan Takes Form

Last week, Olivia Chow’s brand-new Executive Committee unanimously recommended new revenue tools to stave off financial catastrophe. But can she get it past City Council—and what happens if she doesn’t? Read my latest for The Local.

Recap: The 2018 City Manager’s Address

Photo from @imfgtoronto.

“The iceberg is gone, global warming has taken care of that,” jokes new City Manager Chris Murray as he begins his speech.

The iceberg, a municipal budget infographic portraying the City of Toronto’s billions of dollars in approved but unfunded capital projects, had become a cult favourite among City Hall wonks—you know, the kind of people who have cult favourite municipal budget infographics. These are the kind of people who go to the IMFG‘s annual City Manager’s Address, which took place at the end of November. (Slides available here.) Continue reading Recap: The 2018 City Manager’s Address

Torontoist Explains: City Council Revenue Tools

This post first appeared on Torontoist.com in February 2016. It is very out of date and is republished here for historical purposes.

Featured photo by edk7 from the Torontoist Flickr pool.

I won’t call them revenue tools. I think that’s a misnomer. We have to have more taxes or fees to offset the cost of government.
—John Campbell (Ward 4, Etobicoke Centre)

John Campbell is right. A “revenue tool” is just any way the City can bring in more money. Using “revenue tool” may circumvent that knee-jerk response people get when you say “taxes”. The difference is that John Campbell thinks taxes and fees are inherently a bad thing, and others don’t. Welcome to the plight of the Toronto Revenue Tools Debate.

Continue reading Torontoist Explains: City Council Revenue Tools