The City of Toronto's year-end financial results for 2011 show a larger-than-expected surplus, according to documents released Monday.
Toronto's 2011 year-end surplus is $138.7 million higher than anticipated, reaching $292.7 million.
Much of the extra money, $99 million of it, came from higher-than-expected revenues from the municipal land transfer tax, which is applied to all property purchases in the city. The money was "generated by higher than anticipated home sales and average home prices," reads the report.
Mayor Rob Ford said on Monday that the surplus gave him hope that he will be able to phase out the land transfer tax next year.
"We are going to fight. We found efficiencies, that is why we found $140 million," Ford told media on Monday. "It is tightening the ship. The tax-and-spend mentality that the previous administration had is over. I was elected to find the efficiencies and that is exactly what we have done."
The TTC will likely get the biggest benefit from the surplus. The report recommends $213.9 million of the surplus go towards the capital purchases for the TTC, which will mean new streetcars to help replace the city's aging fleet.
Ford confirmed on Monday that he would like to see 75 per cent of the surplus spent on previously purchased streetcars and the remaining 25 per cent placed into reserves.
The report was preceded by an email sent to city staff on Friday, in which Ford thanked the workers for getting the city's finances in order.
The report on the surplus will be considered by the city's budget committee at a meeting on Monday, May 7.
