Until the politicos and bureaucrats and unions and social in-activists at City Hall learn some basic arithmetic.
Three things today.
One: TTC's proposed foray into the water taxi business when its core business is lacking.
Two: Torontonians continue to dream up ways to circumvent the onerous garbage tax coming next year.
Three: The mayor's message to first-time homebuyers? Get out of town.
TTC chair Adam Giambrone should be spending his time improving the transit service, not dreaming up money-losing schemes like starting a ferry service between Scarborough, downtown and Etobicoke.
Love that TTC, but yesterday is a case in point.
Following a 10 a.m. visit to Adelaide and Portland (west of Spadina), I walked north to get a Queen streetcar to city hall. A block away at Richmond, I could see one go by. That was it. I walked the entire way and never saw another one.
Four hours later, I set out to return to Adelaide and Portland. Once again, I did the entire trip on foot because no streetcar arrived.
Now, I saved more than $6 in fares and got such a good workout – not to mention taking in some lovely biological sights – that I am thinking I should do this every lunch time.
But the TTC, being in the business of moving people, should be concerned.
On to waste, where citizens continue to surprise with their ingenuity. One writes:
"What I'm intending to do, or try to do, is `garbage pool' with my neighbour. Instead of us both taking a one-bag and a 1 1/2-bag bin costing $459 in total, we'll just get one three-bag bin costing $310. We'll save $149 ($74.50 each) and it will mean one less stop for the garbagemen.
"If a lot more residents do the same, it will mean the garbage collectors' routes will be more efficient.
"Question is, has the city contemplated this, will they allow it?"
Maybe. Waste boss Geoff Rathbone says he hadn't quite envisioned bin-sharing up to now.As the pilot projects progress, however, he'll consider the ramifications.
Yes, the reader is correct about efficiency. And if the city's goal was solely to cut back on waste, his initiative would be encouraged.
But the way the program is designed, every household is expected to participate. The money you pay for the bin theoretically pays for garbage and compost and recycling. So, if you opt not to take a garbage bin, you won't be paying for the blue and green bins.
Again, this uncovers that the bins are a money maker, not a garbage reducer.
Finally, the city's upcoming land transfer tax that will hit the average homebuyer with a $4,000 charge on top of the $4,000 the province already levies.
Mayor David Miller and others have pointed out first-time buyers won't be affected by this. Not exactly. If you buy a new home, you're exempt. Otherwise you are not.
Now, everyone knows most new homes, condos excepted, are going up outside Toronto's borders. About two-thirds of Toronto house purchases are existing homes changing hands, the real estate board says.
There's another catch. The new-home exemption is for only $2,000, or the equivalent tax on a $227,000 house. With very few Toronto listings at that price, the vast majority of buyers will have to pay the land transfer tax.
So, if you are a young family looking to stay in 416, reduce your carbon footprint, walk to your downtown job, the message buried in the new tax is: take a hike to 905. We don't want you.
Royson James usually appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
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