TORONTO, Ont. – Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s executive committee has voted to start public consultations on taxes and levies that could fund public transit for the long term, as the Metrolinx system grows to include Hamilton, York, Peel and Durham regions.

The public will be able to have their say soon, and then city council will gauge public opinion based on those meetings. The city’s chief planner said the consultations will be promoted through many tools including social media, traditional media as well as with expert panels, but the times for these meetings have not yet been scheduled.

Councillor Denzil Minnan Wong said he supports a referendum to see if taxpayers are willing to pay more.
 
“If you’re going to ask people about revenue tools, you have to be clear and specific about them and you have to ask the people who are actually going to pay for those taxes whether they’re prepared to pay for them,” Minnan Wong said.

However, Ford said to build transit in the city, all three levels of government and the private sector must be involved and until that happens, he will not put the burden on Torontonians.

“I’m not going to implement a new tax or a new user fee,” Ford said. “The people in the city are up to their eyeballs with taxes, and they can barely keep their head above water.”

Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday agreed, saying public consultations on new taxes or fees for transit are a waste of time, since he believes Torontonians would not want to pay more, and he said there are other ways to come up with the cash.

“If we need the money for public transit – and I say we do – then how much do we need and how much do we have to prioritize,” he told 680News.  

Meanwhile, TTC Chair Karen Stintz feels the consultations need to look at a Toronto-based transit plan and revenue stream, not just regional options, such as a gas tax, parking tax or a vehicle registration tax, the latter which Ford scrapped when he came into office in 2010.

Results from the public consultations are expected in spring 2013.