City readies $300 million budget plea

Toronto to turn to Queen’s Park again for help One proposal: Handing back part of Gardiner

Toronto is looking for $300 million in provincial help to balance next year’s operating budget.

“Right now, the wheels are turning as to our approach to the provincial government,” Councillor David Soknacki, the city’s budget chair, said last week.

“ So what we’re doing right now is building the case.” As the city begins work on the 2006 budget, it faces an opening shortfall of $400 million to $500 million, said Soknacki ( Ward 43, Scarborough East). On a total budget of about $7 billion, the city will be able to find savings that will cut the shortfall by $200 million, leaving a gap of about $300 million, he said.

And, as in previous years, the city will be looking for help from the provincial government, he told a joint meeting of the budget advisory and policy and finance committees.

Last year at this time the city was eyeing a shortfall of more than $300 million for 2005. Queen’s Park eventually provided operating budget assistance worth $ 156.6 million: $45 million cash; permission to postpone a $20 million payment on a provincial loan; and permission to use $ 91.6 million of gas tax revenues for operating expenses. A spokesperson for Municipal Affairs Minister John Gerretsen said the minister would have no comment until the city firms up a formal request.

Soknacki said of the $300 million needed for 2006, $ 210 million would be a “ subsidy” from Queen’s Park and $90 million to cover shortfalls in provincial funding of cost-shared social programs such as welfare and homeless shelters. One way the province could help would be to take back the western end of the Gardiner Expressway that the former Mike Harris government downloaded on the former Metro government in 1996, Councillor Howard Moscoe said. Moscoe (Ward 15, EglintonLawrence) said the eight- kilometre stretch of expressway from the Humber River to the Mississauga border was formerly part of the Queen Elizabeth Way that had been maintained by the province.

If Queen’s Park refuses to take it back, the city could explore slapping tolls on inbound traffic, or cut maintenance to the bare bones and put up signs telling motorists why it’s falling apart, Moscoe said. Alternatively, the provincial government could write off a $ 184 million loan it is owed by the city. The idea of tolls was immediately attacked.

“ It’s totally unfair, unrealistic and would cause traffic chaos in the west end,” said Councillor Doug Holyday ( Ward 3, Etobicoke Centre), who fears commuters would divert to side streets to escape the tolls.

“ We’re completely opposed to tolls,” said Faye Lyons, spokesperson for the Canadian Automobile Association for south central Ontario.

“We’re not opposed to the province taking that portion of the expressway back because it does serve a greater need to the province and it does serve regional traffic.”

Ontario Transportation Minister Harinder Takhar said the province has no plans to take back any roads that have been downloaded on municipalities.

However, Takhar said the new City of Toronto Act the province is about to unveil should help the city meet more of its needs.

“ The premier is very much in favour of having a Toronto Act so their issues can be addressed,” he said. “ We feel that Toronto is in a very unique position and they have unique challenges.” The city has begun reviewing its proposed $ 1.2 billion capital budget for repair and upgrades to its assets in 2006. Of the total, almost $400 million will come from provincial and federal governments, and $609 million from city borrowing.