Restoring vehicle tax a no-brainer

Re Bring back this tax, Editorial Jan. 11 I hope that your editorial advocating the reinstatement of the vehicle registration charge is read by all city councillors. Those who support evidence-based decision making will probably agree that this is a fair and reasonable means of achieving the objectives that have already been established by city council.

Reinstatement would be fair because TTC riders have already been levied an additional charge of 10 cents per token. Why should car drivers, who are experiencing the benefits of lower gasoline prices, not make a contribution to the city’s objectives as well?

Your final paragraph is so sensible: “The vehicle registration tax is a modest amount of money for those able to afford a car and could help to raise thousands of Torontonians and their children out of poverty.” We are a caring society and I hope that city council makes this happen. They have the power to do it. Allan Baker, Scarborough Citizens of Toronto with modest or fixed incomes who need vehicles already pay higher insurance rates and higher provincial vehicle license fees in the GTA than elsewhere. So owning a vehicle is expensive enough without reimplementing the $60 vehicle registration tax.

Road tolls should be seriously considered. When travelling in many jurisdictions in the U.S. and Europe we pay, and expect to pay, road tolls, so the outrage when this is suggested is not warranted and all levels of government should seriously be looking at implementing tolls on busier roads and highways.

Also, most residents of our city know that their property taxes are lower than surrounding jurisdictions, so a small increase in property tax could also be considered. Evelyn Muncaster, Toronto While we’re at it, let’s also restore the HST, with the increase going to fund municipal projects. Gary MacDonald, Toronto