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Toronto-Age |OT2|

F

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
Roto13 said:
I hate you all and never want to meet any of you.
LLShC.gif
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Stop lying.
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
Mayor Rob Ford’s proposed 2012 budget would close some swimming and wading pools and homeless shelters, cut programs for student nutrition, AIDS prevention and arts, and reduce street sweeping.

The budget unveiled by Ford on Monday morning would also raise taxes by 2.5 per cent, hike TTC fares by 10 cents and see the ranks of city workers drop, from the complement in April, by 2,300 positions.

“We must stay the course on this budget and we will finally turn the corner and begin to breathe a bit easier,” Ford said, calling the budget a “smart” one that “slams the door on out-of-control spending.”

Cuts proposed in the budget formally presented by city manager Joe Pennachetti include:

• Closing five of the city’s 105 wading pools and two of 59 outdoor pools.

• Closing three homeless shelters — Downsview Dells, Birchwood and Bellwoods — but try to maintain the current number of beds.

• Eliminating city recreation programming at some shared-use Toronto District School Board schools and eliminate city recreation programming at some TDSB pools, for a $3 million savings.

• Cutting 58 student nutrition programs, impacting 14,049 needy children and youths; eliminate the Global AIDS initiative, cut two to three city-wide HIV/AIDS programs and three drug prevention projects.

• Cutting 138 arts programs and projects to save $1.94 million.

• Cutting community services, which support projects and services in vulnerable neighbourhoods and communities with specific focus on seniors, children and youth, by $1.72 million. That would be done by cutting 83 programs or projects and 6,000 “volunteer opportunities”.

• Closing 10 of 22 stand-alone arenas during off-peak hours (7 a.m. to 4 p.m.) Monday to Friday and eliminating 7.5 vacant positions.

• Reducing street sweeping to save $4.2 million.

• Transferring leaf collection from some Etobicoke residents to the solid waste department, saving $509,000;

• Closing visitor cafeterias in the homes for aged to save $612,000.

Cutting five heritage projects.

The 2.5 per cent property tax hike would increase the tax bill on a typical $421,177 home by about $60, pumping an extra $57 million into the budget.

Hiking TTC fares by a dime would generate $30 million.

The city’s workforce would drop by 2,338, to 53,252 employees (including 372 from police, 324 in TTC and 254 in solid waste. City Manager Joe Pennachetti said the “majority” of the jobs are vacant or will become vacant as a result of a hiring freeze, but there will be some layoffs.

Ford trumpeted that, if council approves the budget as presented, it will be the first ever for Toronto that sees city spending drop.

Gross spending would go drop by $52.1 million, to $9.355 billion.

However, according to budget documents, net spending — the part funded by property taxes, as opposed to user fees or grants from other governments — will rise by $98.3 million.

Pennachetti said the budget would draw $83 million from reserves, compared to $346 million in the 2011 budget.

“We are within $83 million of fiscal sustainability,” he said.

Ford and his allies have long been saying the council must cut $774 million to get the city on solid financial ground. However, budget documents suggest the budget pressure was actually $258 million.

Ford started speaking in the council chamber but budget chief Mike Del Grande quickly adjourned the session after several protesters yelled criticisms of Ford.

The budget debut was moved to a smaller committee room where several protesters were ejected after outbursts.

They included a woman who yelled, after Ford trumpeted his cost cutting,: “By selling people’s homes and citing people’s jobs? You’re creating a huge crisis.”

Residents will have their say on the budget during a month of public consultations about to start. The budget committee, after listening and grinding through the numbers, send its proposal to Ford’s executive committee Jan. 12.

City council will debate and have a final vote on the 2012 budget on Jan. 17, 18 and 19.
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Visionary.

lol, I bolded way too much, but it's all worth reading
 
Z

Zombie James

Banned
http://www.thestar.com/news/article...fiscal-plan-promising-big-savings-for-toronto

Ford’s financial blueprint released Friday envisions the city, which faces a 2011 deficit of up to $503 million, more than making that up with $525.6 million in savings — for a $22.6 million surplus. Big surpluses would follow in each of the next three years.

The largest spending cuts in 2011 — $230 million — are in Ford’s “reduce the cost of government plan.” But Ford and his policy director, Mark Towhey, acknowledged to reporters those items are not fully identified.

“There’s a lot of belt-tightening that could be done,” said Towhey. “The city’s been trying to do a similar belt-tightening program for a couple of years with spotty success.”

Pressed to name one big efficiency for 2011, Ford pointed to his plan to save $67 million in salaries by not replacing half of the 6 per cent of city workers who retire annually. Told that attrition was listed at a different line in his budget, Ford replied that he knows the waste is there to find.

“This plan, ladies and gentlemen, is achievable and realistic . . . It won’t be easy to stop the gravy train, but I will do it,” he said.

Although his rivals insist Ford’s savings can’t happen without reducing services Torontonians value — and he would need to somehow convince a majority of councillors to agree with his cuts — he insisted there is enough waste to make his fiscal surgery bloodless.

“I will assure you that services will not be cut . . . guaranteed.”
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F

Fifty

Member
I don't care if he cuts every damn social service in the city, as long as he stops the goddamn gravy train! My desire for him to fulfill his catchphrase knows no bounds.
 
S

Stet

Banned
I fucking love that a 10 cent increase in TTC fare equates to around $52 a year per rider. Or just under the amount that drivers were taxed before Rob Ford began.
 
K

Kinitari

Black Canada Mafia
The manufacturing of this 'budget crisis' is what gets me the most upset. Because it is impossible to explain it on any significant scale to the public, it is being taken advantage of.
 
E

ElNino

Member
BladeWorker said:
Dear Ford-voting suburbanites: he's gonna raise your property taxes, too. Are you happy now?
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Considering how much lower the property taxes are in Toronto compared to other surrounding municipalities, I don't see how they can complain too much (about that... plenty of other things to complain about however).
 
L

lunarworks

Member
ElNino said:
Considering how much lower the property taxes are in Toronto compared to other surrounding municipalities, I don't see how they can complain too much (about that... plenty of other things to complain about however).
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These people will complain until they day they have to pay zero taxes, period.
 
O

Onemic

Member
I don't know why people hate Rob Ford, its not like he did a 180 on what he said he was going to do. His position since the beginning were all about budget cuts and it was fairly known how extreme he was going to be with it way before he even got elected. Now he's doing exactly what he said he would do and everyone's getting up in arms about it. Accept the consequences of electing a fucktard bitches.
 
S

StevieP

Banned
ShaneB said:
Face value is 166.
Click to expand...

If you haven't sold them, PM me

I don't know why people hate Rob Ford, its not like he did a 180 on what he said he was going to do. His position since the beginning were all about budget cuts and it was fairly known how extreme he was going to be with it way before he even got elected. Now he's doing exactly what he said he would do and everyone's getting up in arms about it. Accept the consequences of electing a fucktard bitches.
Click to expand...

"No service cuts"
 
O

OpinionatedCyborg

Member
onemic said:
I don't know why people hate Rob Ford, its not like he did a 180 on what he said he was going to do. His position since the beginning were all about budget cuts and it was fairly known how extreme he was going to be with it way before he even got elected. Now he's doing exactly what he said he would do and everyone's getting up in arms about it. Accept the consequences of electing a fucktard bitches.
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not everyone voted for him. it is perfectly ok to hate him for being the piece of shit that we knew he would be.
 
O

Onemic

Member
OpinionatedCyborg said:
not everyone voted for him. it is perfectly ok to hate him for being the piece of shit that we knew he would be.
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Its mainly a rant towards those that voted for him, but now hate him for doing the same things that they wanted him to do in the first place. I'm pretty sure most of GAF didn't want Rob Ford as mayor.
 
O

OpinionatedCyborg

Member
onemic said:
Its mainly a rant towards those that voted for him, but now hate him for doing the same things that they wanted him to do in the first place. I'm pretty sure most of GAF didn't want Rob Ford as mayor.
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fair enough. those who voted for a wingnut shouldn't be surprised with his performance so far.

I think a few gaffers supported Ford, but I don't see them posting too often nowadays.
 
A

Azih

Member
OpinionatedCyborg said:
fair enough. those who voted for a wingnut shouldn't be surprised with his performance so far.

I think a few gaffers supported Ford, but I don't see them posting too often nowadays.
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Seriously it's going to be a nastier, dirtier, more congested city by the time Ford is done.
 
C

cbox

Member
ShaneB said:
Same :( I'm tired of this weather, warm, cold, chilly, it's just cold&flu weather. Bring on winter dammit so I know it's cold and I better dress up.
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Yeah seriously, I just bought a new wool coat but I'm waiting till It actually gets cold to wear it. Just no slushy snow yet, white and fluffy please!
 
S

ShaneB

Member
ConvenientBox said:
Yeah seriously, I just bought a new wool coat but I'm waiting till It actually gets cold to wear it. Just no slushy snow yet, white and fluffy please!
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And I joked last night on the phone with my Mom that I doubt I'll be wearing my new winter coat until I am back home for christmas, which makes me sad because it means I should probably finally invest in a better fall coat if this inbetween weather keeps up.
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
Lostconfused said:
I guess you don't drive.

Actually screw snow in general. Seriously. Having to shovel the driveway is a pain in the ass as well.
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I have the lovely life of a renter who takes transit. Let it snow.

As a former frequent driver across North America, I would take snow over freezing rain any day
 
L

Lostconfused

Member
I don't disagree that freezing rain is much worse than snow. But I am not a big fan of snow thawing during the day only to freeze into ice in the evening.
 
T

Tiktaalik

Member
What is the tone on the ground and with the local media with regard to this budget? From an outside perspective (I'm a Vancouverite) it strikes me that Ford campaigned on cutting gravy, no service cuts and no tax increases and he's failed on every part. I'd think he'd be headed straight for one term land. Is this accurate?

Looking over that list of cuts is pretty damn scary. It honestly looks like a failed government system. Is anyone talking about addressing the core issues that have created this problem?

I know that I've heard some discussion about Metrolinx, a region transportation organization for the greater Toronto area. Would that take some of the pressure off Toronto for funding transit for example?

edit: What I mean by "failed government system" is a structure of governance chonically unable to solve issues due to structural design.
 
L

lunarworks

Member
Tiktaalik said:
edit: What I mean by "failed government system" is a structure of governance chonically unable to solve issues due to structural design.
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Toronto is a bit complicated. It's a single city of 2.5 million people that until 1997 was actually 6 separate-but-joined cities ("Metro"), which prior to the '50s were each a bunch of smaller municipalities themselves. Plus, all the usual municipal issues with heavily entrenched unions, life-long staffers, and corrupt contractors combined with the usual level of inertia you get in big city bureaucracy.

Plus, it doesn't help that a man who made his name running his dad's sticker company and "buying his own office supplies" is trying to run the show.
 
F

Flash

Member
I switched to Mobilicity about a month. So far so good, especially in the downtown area (and pretty much most of Toronto). Reception gets pretty crappy when I'm at YorkU but whatever...I can live with it seeing my monthly bill is ridiculously cheap. I'm on the $25 BTS promo and since my billing is automated I get another 2 dollars off. Monthly bill comes up to 26 and change with tax.

With the plan I get unlimited data, unlimited talk and unlimited text. Pretty damn amazing seeing that when I was with Rogers, I was paying close to double what I am now yet getting limited everything.

They still have the BTS $25 promo (guaranteed for life) if any of you guys are interested. They also have all their regular priced plans for 50% off, so you can get unlimited talk+text for $12.50/month or unlimited talk+text+data for 17.50/month (but these rates are only guaranteed for a year). And best of all, no bull shit 3 year contracts. If you guys are within their zones and are willing to sacrifice a little bit of quality for the price you will be paying, I can't recommend signing up enough. Their network will only become stronger as they grow (with the help of our support), and you wouldnt be supporting the corrupted, money grabbing big three (Rogers/Bell/Telus).
 
B

BladeWorker

Member
Tiktaalik said:
Looking over that list of cuts is pretty damn scary. It honestly looks like a failed government system. Is anyone talking about addressing the core issues that have created this problem?

I know that I've heard some discussion about Metrolinx, a region transportation organization for the greater Toronto area. Would that take some of the pressure off Toronto for funding transit for example?
Click to expand...

Addressing the core issues that have created this problem? No. Nobody ever talks about those core issues. They're verboten in political parlance. It wouldn't be Canadian politics if it were any other way.

Metrolinx is a provincial sort-of crown corporation. It currently runs GO transit and a few other regional transit initiatives - PRESTO, for example, runs under its wing. That's why Dalton McGuinty could make a GO on-time guarantee (with caveats) as an election promise. But, because it's provincially funded, and nobody in the GTA (in particular, the TTC workers' union) wants big brother looking over their shoulder, there is a great deal of resistance among the regional transit organizations in York, Durham, Peel, Halton, and Toronto proper.
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
Could be a big story transit wise.. depending on the turn of events.

http://www.thestar.com/news/transpo...c-may-not-run-the-eglinton-crosstown-lrt?bn=1

The biggest, most expensive public transit project in Toronto’s recent history could be built and operated without any involvement by the TTC.

Metrolinx is considering a public-private partnership to design, finance, build and even potentially operate and maintain the provincially funded $8.2 billion Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown light rail line.

It’s not clear what adding a private operator to the Toronto transit equation would mean to riders, but transit officials say a complex agreement between the TTC and an alternate provider would have to be worked out to ensure commuters could move easily between two systems. Fare payments, transfer points and protocols for service disruptions and public complaints would all need to be considered.

If Metrolinx decides on a private partnership, it would be the biggest public transit project in the province to be administered by Infrastructure Ontario, the government agency that handles alternative financing and procurements (AFPs).

With $8.2 billion at stake, Metrolinx has an obligation to investigate all options, said CEO Bruce McCuaig. The decision on how the LRT is built and operated will be based on whether “it creates value for money in the end for the owner and the taxpayer,” he said.

McCuaig didn’t know when a decision would be made. But the timing can’t impede the project’s 2020 completion schedule or its budget.

Behind the scenes, the Star has learned that TTC officials have already signaled they aren’t interested in running an LRT that is financed, designed and built by the private sector. They have also suggested that Metrolinx is operating on “very aggressive” timelines and budgets.

Queen’s Park, however, is convinced of the merits of AFPs, also known as P3s.

It might be the best way to ensure there is $650 million left over from the Eglinton project for Mayor Rob Ford’s Sheppard subway extension, said Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli.

“Over the last six years (Infrastructure Ontario) has done 52 projects worth about $21 billion. Virtually every one has been on-time, under-budget,” he said.

Although AFPs have been used mostly in the health care sector, Infrastructure Ontario is also helping to deliver an Ottawa light rail line, the Pearson air-rail link and Highway 407 East.

The Liberal government plans to involve Infrastructure Ontario in more “larger strategic procurements, because it does it better and less expensively than almost all other types of procurement,” said Chiarelli.

AFP opponents argue the arrangements can end up costing taxpayers more because the private sector expects to profit from the deal and charges a premium for accepting the project management and design risks. They also fear the loss of control over public assets.

But David Caplan, former Liberal minister of public infrastructure renewal, says the province has learned a lot about such partnerships since Highway 407 was built and users complained bitterly about the loss of government control over tolls and how they’re administered.

“It’s important to put strict controls on a lot of things and lock down the contract,” he said.

Ontario transportation officials point to Vancouver’s Canada Line light rail project as an example. It opened in 2009 ahead of schedule for the 2010 Olympics. The $2 billion project connecting the airport to downtown was built with a combination of public and private financing, and SNC Lavalin has a 35-year concession to operate it.

The 26-km Eglinton line will run underground from about Black Creek Dr. to Kennedy Station and continue seamlessly above-ground on the route of what is now the Scarborough RT.

Getting it done on time will require having most of Eglinton dug up at the same time, warned one TTC source, who also questioned whether the private sector would be as responsive as civic government to public complaints about construction and operations.

Giving the project to Infrastructure Ontario would have the advantage of taking politics out of the equation, because once the contracts are awarded governments are obliged to carry through on their commitments, said TTC chair Karen Stintz.

But she said Vancouver’s Canada Line doesn’t compare to the Crosstown.

“They had different challenges. They weren’t tunneling under the heart of the city for the duration of the entire line,” she said.

Fare integration would be a minor problem compared with some of the complications of having the Crosstown privately operated, Stintz said.

“The largest hurdle will be how the line crosses over with the TTC’s lines, the interchange points, Yonge and Eglinton and at Bathurst and Allen Rd. If for some reason there’s a problem on the Crosstown line, what is the TTC’s response? Will they be expected to provide shuttle bus service or other service to meet those passengers?” she wondered.

“Ultimately it’s a Metrolinx project and it’s their money… . Metrolinx is the planning agency for transit and transportation for the GTA, and if this is the way they want to proceed, really there’s not much more we can do about it,” she said.
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It could be a horrendous mess, but it's humorous to see a bit of pressure applied to the TTC. Of course, the Province is the one doing it, even when they refuse to assist with funding. So conflicted.


ConvenientBox said:
tmkf3.jpg
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Yesss..

edit: Oh God. Snow-mix outside.
 
A

Azih

Member
EvilMario said:
It could be a horrendous mess, but it's humorous to see a bit of pressure applied to the TTC. Of course, the Province is the one doing it, even when they refuse to assist with funding. So conflicted.
Click to expand...

TTC definitely has leadership issues but I would say it's had massive funding issues since the Mike Harris years (so what, 15 years now?). You can't expect service to increase if you're not willing to pay for it no matter what kind of leadership you have. That's why things eased up in the Miller years even with the same non elected TTC brass.
 
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