23-21 vote undoes many of Mayor Rob Ford’s cuts
Published on Wednesday, 18 January 2012 04:03 | | 
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Toronto, 17 Jan 2012, Mayor Rob Ford’s drive for significant budget cuts was solidly rebuffed Tuesday by a city council that put back about $19 million to fund previously threatened pools, arenas, transit service and child care centres. The result was hailed by Ford opponents as a victory for the people, who came out in droves to say they wanted municipal services retained. Ford, after huddling with advisers after the vote, claimed victory because the property tax hike remained at 2.5 per cent and the city retained a sizeable surplus to put toward the purchase of streetcars for the TTC.
The budget raises municipal taxes by $60 on the average home (assessed at ($447,090), to $2.459.89. That figure excludes education taxes, which will be set before final tax bills go out in the spring.
The mayor stressed that the $9.4 billion spending plan still represents a reduction from the 2011 budget of about $30 million, albeit not the $50 million spending cut he wanted.
“We are spending less money this year than we did last year,” Ford told reporters. “We are starting to change the culture here at city hall. We are turning the Queen Mary.
“I think it’s a huge victory.”
Left-wingers opposed to Ford’s budget-slashing agenda were pleased with the outcome, which saw many proposed cuts defeated by a vote of 23-21.
“Torontonians won this,” said Councillor Joe Mihevc. “He (Ford) lost every single vote today that was put on the table, save one around contracting out janitors,”
“So there’s no way you can say that he saved the day, that he won the day. He frankly lost the day quite miserably. They were working it all weekend, they were working it weeks beforehand, and they weren’t able to pull it off at the end.”
“The majority of councillors at the end listened to their constituents, their bosses, who were saying it’s intolerable to hurt the quality of life of Torontonians.”
Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong stressed that with the Ford tax freeze in 2011 and a 2.5 per cent increase in 2012, homeowners are getting a break.
“Over two years, that’s 1.25 per cent. I’d say that’s a big win when you look at previous administrations and the increase in taxes they were receiving.”
The audience in the council chambers burst into applause when the motion by Councillor Josh Colle was passed to take $15 million of the 2011 year-end surplus and plunk it into restoring services.
The money will increase youth programming in priority centres; keep arenas open weekdays; save pools and homeless shelters threatened with closure; reverse planned cuts to transit service; and continue special mechanical leaf pickup in parts of Etobicoke and Scarborough.
“I think it was as simple as listening to what I was hearing from constituents,” Colle said. “I’m definitely not a hero — just listening to what constituents wanted and trying to strike that always-difficult balance around the budget.
“It’s not reckless spending,” Colle added. “We settled on a prudent budget that was fiscally responsible and addressed some of the concerns that people brought up.
“I don’t think there’s a coalition. I think what’s happened is, whether you like it or not, this budget has generated more discussion amongst the public and councillors than, certainly, I saw last year.”
Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday called it a “narrow loss, to say the least. I guess some councillors that had been siding with us decided they had some things they wanted to vote for. I think they got caught up in a tradeoff.
“It’s far from the end of the world,” he said. “We didn’t want to spend this $19 million extra, and that will have to be made up next time (in the 2013 budget).Source:thestar
