Miller tax freeze smells fishy
Mayor announces no increase in development charges. Is this payback for land-transfer tax?
The moment I heard Mayor David Miller trumpet his plan to freeze development charges last Friday, I knew it was finally "payback time."
It was a year ago almost to the day when the city's major developers agreed to a so-called "compromise" that paved the way for approval of the controversial land-transfer tax.
Their Oct. 18, 2007, letter to the mayor and council stated the "modified proposal" presented to them -- which placed the "burden on those who can most afford to pay" -- was "reasonable." The letter was signed by all the major players in the city's development industry.
At the time I couldn't believe any developer trying to sell the plethora of condos saturating the Toronto market would want to push a tax that could impact on their bottom line -- until the rumours started circulating about their deal with Miller.
Now you've got to hand it to the mayor, a better political strategist than economist, for waiting until the economy started to tank to make the deal official.
It certainly sounds -- to the impartial outside observer -- that he's really concerned about keeping Toronto's building industry thriving.
"We need a creative, made-in-Toronto approach that is balanced and fair to both Torontonians and the development industry," he said.
If only the mayor's so-called "creative" approach to keeping the city afloat was truly "balanced and fair" to all Torontonians. If only he gave the same consideration to small business owners, to ordinary taxpayers and water users, to drivers and to pet owners that he does to his arts friends, developers and of course to his union buddies, who will reap the benefit of any new construction starts.
I certainly don't intend to hold any tag days for developers, who have been handed few restrictions from the councillors and bureaucrats at Socialist Silly Hall and have the deep pockets to push through their plans at the OMB, whether the surrounding community likes it or not.
PHALLIC TOWERS
In fact, it is a rare day that development applications proposing obscene phallic-like condo towers -- far beyond the rules stipulated in the Official Plan -- are turned down by Silly Hall.
Coun. Cliff Jenkins, who's been pushing for development charge increases for years, said he was "furious" when he heard of the mayor's plan to "kill completely" a city report due at next month's executive committee, which was supposed to propose a doubling of the development fees.
Development charges -- which help pay for services and infrastructure (sewers, watermains, streetscapes, etc.) that arise out of any new development -- will only raise about $41 million this year.
Yet the Development Charges Act, he noted, says the charges are "supposed to match" the infrastructure that is created to support new development. This year that new infrastructure will cost about $308 million.
That means $267 million or about 87% is being subsidized by the city -- paid for through new debt.
"They (the developers) are getting an enormously good deal ... a big free ride at expense of taxpayers," he said.
He added he doesn't believe for a minute development will dry up if charges are frozen.
"There's all sorts of stuff that's in the pipeline now," he said. "All we'd be doing is we'd be giving subsidies to the folks who've already got approvals."
Coun. Mike Del Grande believes "absolutely" the break was quid pro quo for the developers' support on the land transfer tax. He's also angry that the mayor pre-empted the city report.
"There are no checks and balances to this guy (the mayor). The City of Toronto Act has made him the king," he said. "He's a mayor by decree."
GREEN DAVID GLOBE-TROTS
First it was Madrid and Miami in the same week in June. Then it was Milan earlier this month. Now our mayor is doing his Robert Kennedy imitation at a climate change conference in Tokyo all week. His spokesperson Stuart Green says Miller is being accompanied by his senior advisor on climate change Mary MacDonald. The costs -- to be determined -- will be shared by the C40 forum (the mayor is chair) and the city. More hot air being expended over climate change. Geesh.
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