TTC chair Karen Stintz is set to propose a new property tax that would be dedicated to improving public transit in Toronto.
Reports in both the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail Tuesday evening quoted Stintz, along with Coun. Glenn De Baeremaeker, saying she will unveil details of a $30-billion 30-year plan to the public at a press conference scheduled for Wednesday morning.
According to the reports, the plan, which is called the OneCity Transit Plan, would create 170 kilometres of new public transit by increasing property tax by 1.9 per cent every year for four years and by dedicating those new funds solely to transit.
Stintz was not available for comment Tuesday evening, but she posted a link to a map of the OneCity plan on Twitter around 11 p.m. It showed six new subway lines snaking from the downtown core, out to the suburbs.
“Here's a map of #OneCity. Full website will go live in the morning,” she said in the tweet.
Coun. Josh Colle spoke to CP24 Tuesday evening, saying that Torontonians have said that they want better transit, but they have to find a way to pay for that transit.
Stintz’s plan includes that funding, he said.
“It’s got a dedicated funding source, which is something that’s very unique and something we’ve been waiting for, for a long time,” said Colle, who is also a TTC commissioner.
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has yet to weigh in on the plan, which will be presented to council July 11, after it is unveiled to the public Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.
Colle said he thinks Ford could support such a plan, which would amount to a tax increase of about $45 per household in its first year.
“I think the mayor would support this because he’s long supported the notion of a subway into Scarborough and that’s a key platform of this plan,” Colle said.
Even though the plan will be brought before council in July, it wouldn’t be fully ratified until the fall, Colle said. This would give time for public consultation, as well as consultation with provincial partners.
On Tuesday, the website onecitytransitplan.com showed new posts, which were created on June 25, but full contents of the site were protected by a password.
