It’s a good start as far as I’m concerned.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Toronto may have a new deal with the province for financial relief, but Mayor Olivia Chow says city residents will also need to do their part to battle the $1.5-billion shortfall — and that will mean property tax increases and new fees in 2024.
The new mayor and Premier Doug Ford announced an agreement last month that will see the province provide billions of dollars in aid and upload the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway.
That request comes despite some good news from the federal government earlier this week, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Toronto would receive nearly half a billion dollars to help speed up housing construction in the city.
“I have noticed …that a lot of regular bread and butter kind of services, potholes, washrooms, garbage bins, all of those things that are really fundamental to the quality of life of local residents are not done as well as they can be,” she said.
Chow also poured cold water on critics suggesting she has moved too quickly on a trio of recent decisions that bypassed the city’s normal consultation process.
Those critics have said that in her push to cap ride-sharing and the bids to rename Yonge-Dundas Square and the football stadium in Centennial Park after former mayor Rob Ford, Chow and her council allies circumvented the normal process to receive public feedback.
The original article contains 883 words, the summary contains 219 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
City staff are also studying several new taxes, including a commercial parking lot levy and a tax that would target foreign home buyers. They’re expected to report back to council in 2024.
Chow is candid when asked if the city will need more revenue tools.
“Yes,” she said. “There will be.”
Heck yeah, Chow. Tax the fucking traffic away. I have no clue how people afford $35/day parking as it is, if the tax caused parking rates to increase it could convince people to take transit more.
Serious question, won’t residing property taxes cause landlords to raise rents, making the whole thing worse?