Yea! Don't Hold Your Breath Lorrie.

Toronto needs truth in taxation

By Lorrie Goldstein

There's a giddiness at Toronto City Hall these days as staff and politicians dream up new ways to tax us.

Armed with new revenue-raising powers courtesy of Premier Dalton McGuinty's City of Toronto Act, Mayor David Miller and Co. are moving in for the kill.

Property taxpayers will now be facing annual tax hikes of what we'll call "3% plus." That's a minimum tax increase of 3%, plus new and higher levies and fees which won't appear directly on property taxes, but which we'll pay nonetheless.

The first is the city's new garbage pickup plan, touted as a way to get people to produce less trash. Practically speaking, it will soon cost you more to have your garbage picked up, unless you can jam two weeks worth of trash into, approximately, one, regular-sized garbage bag.

As is already the case with rising water bills, garbage pickup will no longer be covered by property taxes, but by a separate fee linked to how much trash you produce.

Also on the horizon are hikes to land transfer taxes, adding perhaps $2,225 to the cost of a $250,000 home, and a new city fee of $60 annually to register cars.

Longer term, there may be a new alcohol tax, road tolls and more.

Given all this, property taxpayers must have an independent way to determine how much more city services are costing them in total every year.

In that context, the city auditor should be given the authority to do an annual assessment of all city taxes, levies and fees and to report to the public on how much the total tax burden is rising every year.

Politicians must not be able to claim, deceptively, that they are holding property tax hikes to 3%, while ignoring other costs.

The city auditor's role would be similar to the provincial auditor's new power to report before each election on the true state of the government's finances. However, the city auditor should report annually.

We cannot imagine Miller, committed to openess and transparency, could object to this idea.

But if he does, we'll want to know why.