First cheques in the mail as city refunds prepaid car tax

TORONTO - Mayor Rob Ford got into the action today as Toronto began mailing refunds to motorists who prepaid the city's vehicle registration tax.

Ford dropped the first batch of $60 refund cheques into a Canada Post box at city hall.

Axing the tax was a Ford election promise and it became one of the first orders of business for Toronto's city council in December.

Today's mail-out was six weeks earlier than anticipated, as refunds were originally scheduled for April.

Approximately 147,000 refund cheques will be mailed over the next six weeks.

The cheques will be processed based on the licence plate renewal dates, beginning with January 2011 renewal transactions.

"Getting rid of the car tax is a major win for the taxpayers of Toronto," Ford said in a release.

• 

  Mayor Rob Ford announces that Toronto began mailing refunds to motorists who prepaid the city's vehicle registration tax on Friday, Feb. 18, 2011.

• 

  Some Toronto motorists will get a refund on the vehicle registration tax which was scrapped near the end of 2010.