The first version of Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow’s budget for this year includes a proposed 6.9 per cent tax hike for homeowners, the city’s budget chief revealed Monday.
That includes a 5.4 per cent property tax increase and the annual 1.5 per cent “city building fund” levy, Coun. Shelley Carroll said at a news conference alongside Chow.
Chow said it would amount to an additional $5.50 per week for the average homeowner in the city.
“I know the stakes are high,” Chow said as she outlined her spending priorities, adding that she recognizes many people are struggling with the high cost of living.
Improved services will include more frequent and reliable TTC service, extended Sunday hours at 67 public libraries, and pools and wading pools with longer hours through the summer months, she said. The budget will also see increased spending on affordable housing programs, tenant protections and emergency services, particularly policing.
“This proposed budget will mean change in Torontonians’ lives today,” Chow said.
The proposed tax increase comes on the heels of last year’s historic 9.5 per cent property tax hike, the highest in decades, that was partly used to close a $1.8-billion budget hole. With 2023’s seven per cent increase, taxpayers will have seen a roughly 24 per cent increase in their municipal bills in the last three years.
This year’s “opening pressure” — the money needed to maintain services at existing levels — is roughly $1.2 billion. The city is required by Ontario law to present a balanced budget by the time council finalizes it in February, the municipality cannot run a deficit.
According to a budget presentation from the city manager and chief financial officer, the two biggest areas of spending from property taxes are public transit and policing, representing about $810 and $708 annually from the average tax bill.
WATCH | Chow proposes a 6.9% tax increase for Toronto:
Breaking down Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow’s proposed 6.9% tax hike
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow has released a proposed 2025 city budget that includes a 5.4 per cent property tax increase and the annual 1.5 per cent “city building levy.” CBC’s Sarah MacMillan breaks down what Toronto residents need to know.
The 2025 budget proposal also includes $18.8 billion in operating expenses and the largest-ever 10-year capital plan with nearly $60-billion in scheduled spending, with more than half of it focused on addressing the city’s behemoth state-of-good-repair backlog.
The boosted operating budget is about $1.8 billion larger than last year. Of that additional spending, roughly 45 per cent comes from federal and provincial funding delivered via the city. Meanwhile, 89 per cent of additional spending taken directly from city coffers would go toward public transit, emergency services, Toronto Community Housing and recent and ongoing labour agreements, city staff say.
In all, the proposed budget also includes $94 million in new spending that the city says reflect priorities laid out by residents during public consultations last October.
Rates going up
The average Toronto taxpayer should be budgeting about $50 more for their water and garbage bills after council approved a 3.75 per cent increase to those rates.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Police Services Board has approved its 2025 budget proposal, with an additional $46.2 million set to go to the force this year.
The Toronto Transit Commission’s board has also presented an operating budget that freezes fares for a second straight year and includes millions to run the Eglinton and Finch LRT lines — both of which are set to open by July and August, according to the budget.
Cash to fight congestion
Last week, Chow said the city will spend $3 million to hire more traffic agents, who are deployed across the city’s busiest intersections to maintain the flow of traffic and prevent irksome violations like “blocking the box.”
“Anywhere there’s traffic jams, you can expect to see them,” Chow said at a news conference Thursday.
Remember, the budget presented Monday is just the first iteration. Councillors will have a chance to make changes in the coming weeks (last year, for example, city staff floated a higher tax hike on day one, which was dialled back.)
More to come.
