Toronto Region Board of Trade calls for dedicated transit taxes

A call for new revenue sources to fund transit from the Toronto Region Board of Trade is being met with mixed reaction from local politicians.

“We believe we can’t go to the hard-working people of Toronto and ask them to increase their taxes until we exhaust every single avenue in the private sector,” Coun. Doug Ford told CP24 Monday.

The Toronto Region Board of Trade is calling on the province to introduce a pair of new taxes, a levy on parking spaces and a series of road tolls to help fund an ambitious plan for transit expansion in the Greater Toronto Area.

President and CEO Carol Wilding unveiled the proposal during a meeting Monday, saying the four revenue tools could generate more than $2 billion annually.

The money would go towards the Big Move, a $50 billion, 25-year plan from Metrolinx that aims to create an integrated regional transportation network from Hamilton to Durham Region and all points in between.

“Simply looking to government to tighten belts and consider alternative financing methods won’t be enough. Neither our regional municipalities or our province can afford the Big Move with current revenue streams,” Wilding said. “The debate is no longer if we need new revenue tools but which ones.”

But Ford said he still believes the money needed to fund transit infrastructure can be found through public-private partnerships with companies around the world.

“We have to reach out to the billions of dollars worldwide that want to have a safe haven, a safe investment,” he said. “What better country than Canada, what better city than Toronto.”

In the meantime TTC Chair Karen Stintz welcomed the suggestions from the board, saying the city should consider at least some of the proposals.

“We do need to be looking at the broadest set of tools possible, so the board of trade has taken a bold step,” Stintz told CP24. “I don’t know that we need to look at all four (proposals). I think the Federal government needs to step in as well.”

Stintz pointed out that even if private money can be found to help pay for transit infrastructure, it would still take large sums of money to operate and maintain the new infrastructure.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath took to Twitter Monday to say she doesn’t favour new taxes for ordinary citizens to help pay for transit.

“We need to find fair and balanced way to pay for transit,” Horwath wrote on Twitter. “Can't keep cutting corporate taxes then ask people to pay new fees.”

But Wilding said it was unrealistic to rely on the government to provide the funding.

Speaking to members and assembled media Monday morning, Wilding said a regional sales tax could generate $1 to $1.6 billion annually while a regional fuel tax could generate another $640-$840 million. She said that the taxes combined with the parking levy and introduction of road tolls would ensure that all residents pay their fair share.

“Today we are putting forth revenue tools that we believe are balanced, fair and economically responsible and should be given serious consideration,” she said. “They are fair because everybody contributes and everybody benefits, including drivers, commuters, business and the public.”

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has spoken out against road tolls and the idea of a dedicated transit tax in the past; however a 2012 survey of Toronto Region Board of Trade members found that two-thirds want the province to find new revenue tools for expanding transit and addressing gridlock.

Wilding said there is public and business support for the idea of a transit tax now and that it is time to act.

“Talking about our congestion has been a regional obsession. So too has been avoiding real solutions. The Toronto region cannot afford to stall progress on a financing strategy for its infrastructure needs,” she said. “Delays will only add time and costs to real progress. We are falling behind our competitors."

While the idea of a dedicated transit tax is sure to generate some controversy, at least one economist attending the Toronto Region Board of Trade meeting Monday said the economy can bear the cost.

“You are looking at roughly a $2 billion amount, which I think within a $300 billion or so economy is feasible,” TD Bank economist Derek Burleton told CP24. “In terms of the hit on low income you can devise some strategies to help mitigate that through the income tax system.”

Monday’s speech was the official kickoff to a Toronto Board of Trade campaign titled “Lets Break the Gridlock.”

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