I was among about 200 people crowded into the cafeteria of Etobicoke Collegiate on Saturday — just one of the public meetings the city is holding as it conducts its “core services review.”
Much of the meeting was spent in smaller working groups, as participants debated which of 30 city services were essential, which were essential but less important, and which weren’t essential at all.
At my table, none of us could identify any “non-essential” services and we only proposed one or two that we thought were less important. Groups at other tables nearby seemed to draw similar conclusions.
The exercise dramatically illustrated council’s gargantuan task in balancing the budget for the future. The city already expects a shortfall of about $774 million next year. Mayor Ford has promised to somehow maintain services at their current levels while not increasing taxes.
During a presentation by City Treasurer Cam Weldon, a woman asked whether he and other staff had actually skewed the process to favour cutting services or privatizing them. Weldon replied that staff and politicians didn’t have a hidden agenda — they genuinely want to find out what people think, so they can fairly decide what to do.
At the beginning of the meeting, it was pointed out that a five percent property tax hike to cover the shortfall would cost the average homeowner about $120. The woman questioning Wheldon then cited the $120 figure, wondering whether $10 more a month for most homeowners was so onerous. “Wouldn’t it be easier just to bite the bullet and raise taxes, rather than going through this exercise?” she asked. She also pointed out that just 65,000 taxpayers agreeing to pay an extra $120 would more than fill the budget gap.
During the second half of the session, we tried figuring out how to pay for the same services we had earlier decided were essential. While we agreed that the city should contract some of its services out, some of us also felt that the province should be stepping in — for example, taking back responsibility for some of the social services that it dumped on municipalities in the late 1990s to solve its own budget woes.
The city staff that organized the event promised they’d be considering all our ideas and comments, and that the public will get updates as the process continues. Council will have to make its decisions on service cuts and fee or tax hikes — or some combination thereof — this fall.
Even if you can’t attend one of the sessions, you can still take part in the discussion. You can complete an on-line survey and find out more information on the core services review here.
