SUBWAY PLAN APPROVED
Council backs 1.6% tax hike to pay for Scarborough extension.
In what may well be the deciding vote in an expensive, months-long tug-of-war over the future of Scarborough transit, Toronto city council narrowly voted Tuesday to build a subway rather than an LrT.
The measure, which was passed by a margin of 24 to 20, firmly replaces a paid-for $1.8-billion LrT plan with a three-stop subway extension that is expected to cost up to $3.5-billion, not including operations and maintenance.
Nevertheless, on Tuesday night proponents justified the cost by asserting that the underground option would endure into the 22nd century.
“We can build transit for Scarborough that will last the next 100 years,” said Mayor rob Ford in the final minutes before the vote.
After a move to spread a tax increase over four years failed, the mayor supported a 1.6% hike over three years to help pay for the project, backing off his mantra of keeping it at 0.25% a year.
After the vote’s success, Mayor Ford reported feeling “ecstatic,” and claimed it as the fulfillment of one of his main mayoral election promises.
councillor cesar Palacio took it a step further and compared pro-subway councillors to the city hall that approved the 1940s-era construction of the yonge line.
“They had backbone, they had vision, they had intestinal fortitude,” he said.
“It’s time for Scarborough to get its subway. This is the right subway,” said Ward 16 councillor and TTc chair Karen Stintz before the vote.
budget chief Frank di Giorgio agreed, saying that “to now backtrack on what we adopted in July is just mind-boggling.”
Under an original Metrolinx agreement, the aging Scarborough rT line was to be replaced with a seven-stop, above-ground Light rapid Transit line.
Nevertheless, in July council suddenly endorsed an all-subway extension of the bloor-danforth line that councillors expected would be funded in part by the same $1.8-billion the province had put up for the LrT.
Instead, Queen’s Park ratcheted back the contribution to $1.48-billion. That, along with a $660-million contribution from Ottawa, leaves a $910-million gap that the city must fill to build the underground line.
The figure includes the $85-million Toronto has to reimburse Metrolinx for the sunk costs of the now-defunct LrT project.
To cover the added costs, city manager Joe Pennachetti proposed doing so by raising taxes by 1.6% over three years, starting with 0.5% next year.
On Tuesday, a parade of councillors voiced their concerns with the Scarborough plan, including fiscally conservative Ford allies balking at the nine-figure premium.
“I’m in favour of subways; I’m not in favour of self-immolation,” said councillor denzil Minnan-Wong, who usually votes with Mayor Ford.
councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby, a centre-right vote from etobicoke, read out a letter from a constituent comparing the project with the Ontario Liberals’ sudden cancellation of the Mississauga and Oakville gas plant — a scandal that is expected to cost taxpayers more than $1-billion.
“This is putting all of our eggs and the chicken in the basket and tossing them out the window,” said councillor Adam Vaughan.
The LrT side got its strongest boost when councillor Paul Ainslie, a Scarborough representative who had supported the subway in July, rose to stump for light rail instead.
“We have a $910-million issue here that we think we know how to fund,” said Mr. Ainslie.
“I don’t think that running a subway through this part of Scarborough is an appropriate use of our tax dollars.”
The comments brought Mayor Ford to his feet.
“you’re a Scarborough councillor who put a motion forward to kill the subway system when it’s the No. 1 issue by far, and you truly believe you’re going to get re-elected?” yelled Mr. Ford, who was not in his chair for most of the debate.
Of course, it is not clear that going back to LrT was ever an option. In early September, Ontario Transportation Minister Glen Murray supported the subway, and proposed that if the city could not find the cash to build the $3.5-billion plan, it could use the province’s $1.4-billion to simply build a two-stop subway running as far as Scarborough Town centre.
The 1.6% tax hike will cost the average household $41 a year, or about $1,200 over the 30 years it will take to pay off the debt, city staff said.
As for the existing Scarborough rT line, council voted to explore whether the abandoned line could be converted into a public park similar to Manhattan’s High Line.