Mayor Rob Ford’s budget may have passed on Thursday afternoon, but that hasn’t stopped his critics from sounding off.
As we talked about a couple of days ago, veteran centrist councillor Raymond Cho demonstrated his concerns over Ford’s tactics. With the budget having cleared, others are suggesting, too, that it means short-term gain but “long-term pain” for Toronto residents.
“I think we’re looking at much bigger cuts (in 2012). This year we’ve affected what the budget committee called ‘a few citizens.’ We’re talking about thousands and thousands and thousands being affected next time around,” said former budget chief Shelley Carroll.
There is, as we reported in the past, a $774 million deficit projected for 2012. That will mean that deep, significant cuts will need to be made to a host of programs if there is to be any salvaging of the conditions in Toronto. With Ford’s $9.4 billion budget approved Thursday, it included no property tax increase. That’s the first time the city of Toronto has seen no increase in that department in over a decade.
Among the programs scrapped were the downspout program and funding for the Toronto Public Library’s urban affairs branch. The TTC will also reduce some of its services and fees will go up.
On top of that, there’s pressure because the city’s surplus was used up to balance the 2011 budget. That compounds the impending deficit considerably and makes it more of a problem.
Ford, for his part, has kept quiet about how he intends to meet the 2012 issues. For now, it appears that he’s focused in gaining ground from the 2011 budget and has little concern for looking ahead. “The ink’s not even dry on the 2011 budget,” he said, “so I want people to enjoy the zero per cent tax increase.”
