Will Miller Go To The War With City Unions

To bring the cities fiscal house in order? I doubt it. Rather than spread the pain around, city employees and taxpayers, he will drop most of the load on the property owners and businesses in the city. Realistically that is where it should be dropped; on those using the services, but the end user will start shouting for value added and city council will have no choice but to confront the unions and the bureaucrats

Fiscal cloud could be Miller's silver lining TheStar.com - News - Fiscal cloud could be Miller's silver lining

August 20, 2007

Royson James

As crazy as this sounds, Mayor David Miller today is in a better position than ever to achieve a permanent fix for Toronto's fiscal mess.

For the first time since becoming mayor in 2003, Miller has everyone's attention on the budget – closing community centres and libraries has a way of accomplishing what endless talk fails to do. Miller's next "ask" must be for exactly what the City of Toronto needs, nothing less.

Yes, the city's budget is nearly $600 million in the hole for next year. Yes, debt has soared past $2 billion. Yes, the mayor has been announcing service cuts that have further angered residents. And, yes, he has no apparent plan in place to deliver a favourable council vote in October that would restore the nearly $350 million in new taxes deferred last month.

But the mayor has an enormous, historic opportunity. He must seize it by making a bold and risky play for higher property taxes, for new revenue sources not tied to property, and for help from Ottawa and Queen's Park. This three-pronged approach should lace his every speech and strategic manoeuvre.