Toronto city council voted in favour of the deputy mayor's residential tax hike on Wednesday, despite protests from Mayor Rob Ford.
City council voted 32 to 13 in favour of Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly's 2.23 per cent residential tax hike, which includes a 0.5 per cent levy to help fund a shortfall in Ford’s extension of the Bloor-Danforth subway line into Scarborough.
Earlier in the day, Ford told the media that councillors would have to “answer to the taxpayers” if they voted against a number of cost-cutting budget amendments he introduced on the floor of council.
But the mayor also said he expected council to vote against his suggestions.
“I don’t think we have enough fiscally responsible councillors,” Ford said, when asked if he thought his amendments had any hope of being adopted. “The taxpayers are the ones they are shooting down, though. They may think they are hurting me but they are hurting the taxpayers and when they go knocking on doors in October they will have to answer for why they shot down my motions.”
Ford has promised to introduce $60 million in potential savings on the $9.6-billion operating budget, but he has refused to answer questions on what form those savings may take.
Ford has previously said that he can’t support a budget with more than a 1.75 per cent property tax hike and has accused councillors of returning to their “tax and spend” ways after stripping him of many of his powers in November.
Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly, meanwhile, told CP24 that the proposed property tax increase is “fair.”
